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William Douglas Hamilton'. 
1832-1915. 




General W. D. Hamilton, 
1861-1865. 



Recollections of a 

Cavalryman of the Civil War 

After Fifty Years 

1861 — 1865 

BY 
WILLIAM DOUGLAS HAMILTON 



CAPTAIN OF INFANTRY, 1861-1862 
MAJOR OF CAVALRY, 1862-1863 
LIEUT-COLONEL OF CAVALRY, 1863 
COLONEL OF CAVALRY, 1863-1865 
BREVET BRIGADIER GENERAL, 1865 



COLUMBUS, OHIO 
THE F. J. HEER PRINTING CO. 

1915 



9Uu 



Z'-e. 



Y 



PREFACE. 

EARS ago at one of the reunions of the Ninth 

Ohio Cavalry it was vo'ted that I shofUild write 

f^ a history of our regiment. I was so occupieid 

in business then that I oould not find time to comply 

with their wishes. Now that I have had sufficient 

time I have carried out their request. 

With the help of some of my old comrades, I 
have undertaken to dig through the accumulated 
memories of fifty years and record incidents, — 
many of them commonplace enough to us then, but 
to which time has added a charm which warms our 
hearts to each other and to this dear land of ours. 

As a regiment the Ninth Ohio Cavalry, which be- 
longed to the Army of the West, opeirated most of 
the time under general orders on its own responsi- 
bility. Often stationed quite in advance of the in- 
fantry, we were thus brougiht into close touch with 
the Southern people, and as a result dislikes on both 
sides were very much modified. 

Professional historians have written of the cam- 
paigns and battles of the Civil War. The incidents 
here preserved are side-lights on its dark backg^round 
but they helped in a small way to modify the bitter- 
ness of it all. 

This story !has been written for the benefit of 
those who will come after us, and in the hope that 

(iii) 



iv PREFACE. 

there will never be any call for the youth of our 
country to further develop the art of war. This wish 
is more sincerely felt since there is a very dear 
grandson and namesake of mine* now in the senior 
class at the Military School at West Point, and my 
cherished hope and faith is that he may be assigned 
to the development, rather than to the defence, of our 
God-given resources, and that there may never arise 
any national problems that may not be settled by the 
wisdom' of our advancing civilization without recourse 
to tjhe barbarity of arms. The miany schools, colleges 
and churches in^ this great country dedicated to the 
humanities and the higher arts of peace should in time 
insure this. 

This record is inscribed to the memory of my 
fallen comrades, and with an affectionate greeting to 
tJhe few who remain, I bequeath it to our children. 

W. D. H. 



* Douglas Hamilton Gillette. 



INTRODUCTION. 



"War is a game, which, were their subjects wise, kings 
would not play at." — Cowper's Task. 

THE world stands aghast at the deplorable con- 
dition of Europe today. A continent divided 
into independent states which are now being 
over run, their boundaries changed, their cities burned, 
their defenders butchered, their families starved and 
their territory absorbed to feed the ambition of 
despotic rulers. 

Our fore-fathers in forming a government out 
of a number of colonies then existing, wisely pro- 
vided that they should remain together and be 
known as the United States of America, and that each 
new state should make its laws conform to the laws 
of the general government. 

The existence of slavery at length caused trouble 
and the Southern States revolted. Earnest statesmen 
did what they could to prevent war. A committee of 
senators from the State of Delaware, waited upon 
President Lincoln in 1861 to try to find some plan to 
avoid war. Mr. Lincoln suggested the plan adopted 
by Great Britain for abolishing slavery in her colonies 
in the West India Islands, by paying the owners $300 
for each slave, and Mr. Lincoln suggested $400 in 
our case as the price. This was submitted to the Sen- 
ate of Delaware, but was rejected by a majority of one 
vote. 

(V) 



Vi INTRODUCTION. 

In 1864, after much blood had been shed, Alex- 
ander H. Stephens of Georgia, wrote to Mr. Lincoln 
on the same subject, inclosing a letter signed "Jeffer- 
son Davis, President of the Southern Confederacy". 
This letter Mr. Lincoln returned, saying he could not 
entertain a paper signed in that way. The next year 
the trouble was settled at Appomatox. 

The question had been fouglit out gallantly by 
both sides, and when the end came there was no ex- 
ultation on one side, nor humiliation on the other, but 
mutual respect and the unity of the States was es- 
tablished, and our hope is, that the benefit conferred 
mpon our nation and the world, may atone for the 
blood and treasure that it cost. The records at Wash- 
ington can show the value of the treasure lost, but not 
Df the heartache and suffering nor the blood that was 

shed. 

It was estimated in 1861 that there were 3,000,- 
000 slaves in the South, wihioh at $400 each would 
aggregate $1,200,000,000 (One Billion, Two Hundred 
Million Dollars). All this, if accepted, would have 
been distributed in the South. The financial cost of 
the war as shown aggregated $8,000,000,000 (Eight 
Billions of Dollars), nearly seven times the estimated 
value of the slaves without counting the terrible de- 
struction of property to which the South was sub- 
jected. 

In addition to this, is the increased cost of the 
military system it is now considered necessary to main- 
tain, including a standing army, costing annually 



INTRODUCTION. Vll 



$93,000,000; a navy, $125,000,000; and pensions at 
presient $150,000,000. This last will decrease, but the 
military expense is likely to increase unless we change 
our military policy. 

Military science has so changed since the intro- 
duction of improved weapons, that less tim'e is needed 
in the drill and manual of arms. This was illustrated 
in the South African War where the untrained Boers 
so often proved too much for the well drilled soldiers 
of the British Army. 

Now that our Indian wars are ovier, our standing 
army should be kept at the lowest limit. Professional 
soldiers are not citizens. They do not vote. They 
farm a class by themselves whose chief ambition is a 
strong army. The officers incline to a guild of their 
own which tends to an aristocracy. In successful wars 
they are looked upon by the masses as heroes, and their 
leaders are elevated to the head of the government. 
This, in the world's experience, is dangerous to a re- 
public and tends to monarchy. The rise of the Roman 
Republic and the downfall of the Roman Empire is 
a well known illustration. 

A powerful navy is a grave and expensive responsi- 
bility, needed principally to protect our lately acquired 
dependencies, thrown on our hands accidentally by our 
navy. While these Islands furnish a good field for 
our missionary work, they are likely to complicate 
our relations with other nations and require an ex- 
tensive navy to protect them. 

Our inland ownership covers the heart of a con- 



VIU INTRODUCTION. 

tinent lying between two Oceans, forming the East 
and West boundaries, with 3000 miles of land be- 
tween. 

The grandeur of its mountains, with the wealth of 
its minerals and the fertility of its soil will make at- 
tractive homes for our descendants for centuries. We 
can afford to let the crowded nations of Europe 
quarrel among themselves over their boundary lines 
and extend their possessions among the Islands of the 
sea, we do not need them. It is the Eagle and not the 
Sea gull that is the emblem of our nationality. 

With the Panama canal under our control, we 
will not need a double navy to defend our east and 
west coasts. The money required to build one modern 
battleship, which is out of data in about ten years, 
would build 20 submarines to defend our coast, any 
one of which could sink a battleship in half an hour, 
or it would build 1,000 miles of first-class highway the 
distance from New York to Chicago at a cost of $15,- 
000 per mile : and half the money spent every year 
on our war equipment, militarism and allied expenses 
would, according to our best engineers, construct a 
continental highway from Baltimore to San Francisco 
over a grade not exceeding 2j%, with roadbed 25 ft. 
wide, surfaced with asiphalt, with stone bridges and 
culverts, free to the public, and still have enough left 
for branch roads. 

We have at present 48 states in the Union, all 
happily under one general government. Land grants 
have been given by Congress to all of the states and 



INTRODUCTION. IX 

territories with a provision that military instruction 
be inckided in the college curriculum. The Ohio State 
University has at present 1600 young men under mil- 
itary instruction. Physical as well as mental train- 
ing is required. They are divided into four battalions 
in charge of a West Point officer, capable not only of 
giving instruction in modern drill but in engineering 
and mechanics during at least two years of their col- 
lege course. In addition to this, it might be provided 
that a military teacher, named by the Secretary of 
War, be added to the faculty of every college having 
at least 400 students subject to military instruction 
This would prepare at least 200,000 young men every 
two years, all of them made familiar with a soldier's 
life and duties and most of them well qualified to 
assume the duties of a commissioned officer when 
ever needed. By this means the nation would be 
assured of more than a million of well equipped young 
men, ready at its call to meet any emergency. This, 
added to the militia of the different states subject to 
the call of the president, would give us as much in- 
fluence among the nations of the world as if we were 
supporting a standing army of half a million men, and 
this without the cost of maintaining them until needed. 
We would thus create a powerful influence in pre- 
paring the way for the more perfect work of tlie 
Hague Tribunal for the suppression of war among the 
nations, and make the incidents as recorded in 
the following pages, read like a strange story of a 
bygone age. 



CONTENTS. 

Chapter 1. page. 

Family History 1-4 

Chapter 2. 
The Scotch Colony 5-8 

Chapter 3. 
The Call to Colors — Organization of Company "G," 

32nd O. V. L.— Life on Cheat Mountain 9-15 

Chapter 4. 
Our First Battle — Our night march and expe- 
rience on Gum Road — Our first death — Removal 
of camp to Beverly 1&-22 

Chapter 5. 
Battle of Camp Alleghany 23-30 

Chapter 6. 

Advance from Cheat Mountain and our experience 

with foreign adventurers 31-35 

Chapter 7. 

Arrested hy order of General Fremont — Winchester 
and Harper's Ferry — First Battalion, Ninth 
Ohio Cavalry 36-43 

Chapter 8. 

The Knights of the Golden Circle — Service in East 
Kentucky — Fullington, the East Tennessee 

Scout 44-54 

(xi) 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Chapter 9. page. 

Raid on Big Creek Gap — Holding the enemy 
in East Tennessee during General Saunders' 
reconnoisance around Knoxville — The Morgan 
Fox Chase 55-60 

Chapter 10. 

Knoxville Campaign — Visit of Paymaster at Glas- 
gow, Ky., and organization of Burnside's 
command for the Knoxville Advance — Battle at 
Campbell's Station and capture of Knoxville 61-67 

Chapter 11. 

Organization of the Second and Third Battalions — 
Ordered to report to Camp Dennison to receive 
the Second and Third Battalions of the regiment 
— Six week in camp under drill 68-84 

Chapter 12. 
Ordered to the Field — ^^Ordered by General Grant 
to report by water to Nashville — Orders 
changed at Louisville to march through Ken- 
tucky 85-89 

Chapter 13. 
Patrol of the Tennessee River — Assignment to left 
wing Sixteenth Army Corps, commanded by 
General Granville M. Dodge — Trouble with ord- 
nance office at Nashville about ammunition set- 
tled by Grant — Union of the three battalions at 
Athens, Alabama — ^Capture of Captain Hetzler 
and one-half of Company "G" on Jack Peters' 
Plantation 90-98 

Chapter 14. 
The Affair at Center Star — Failure to capture 

enemy at Center Star and the consequences 99-103 



CONTENTS. XUl 

Chapter 15. page. 

The Florence Campaign — And interesting incidents 

with which it was connected 104-123 

Chapter 16. 
Battle of Decatur 124-129 

Chapter 17. 

Rousseau's Raid — Reach Sherman's Army at Vining 
Station July 23, 1864 — Interview with General 
Thomas 130-143 

Chapter 18. 

Preparing to remount the Command — Affair at Big 

Shanty 144-151 

Chapter 19. 

Sherman's Grand March— Battle of Buckhead Creek. 152-161 

Chapter 20. 

Battle of Waynsboro— Attempt to Liberate Prisoners 

at Millen Prison 162-167 

Chapter 21. 

Siege of Savannah — Hog Island — Ordered to burn 
railroad bridge across the Altamaha River, 
thirty miles below Savannah — Sister's Ferry on 
Savannah River — Visit from Dr. King 168-177 

Chapter 22. 

Descent on South Carolina — In Barnwell first night 

In South Carolina— Battle of Aiken 178-189 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Chapter 23. page. 

Battle of Averysboro and capture of Colonel Rhett — 
Battle of Bentonville — Through the Turpentine 
Forest of North Carolina — Kilpatrick's escape — 
Known by many of the boys as "Kilpatrick's 
Shirt-tail Skedaddle" 190-199 

Chapter 24. 
The last Engagement of the War 200-214 

Chapter 25. 

Service in North Carolina after the close of the War. 215-225 

Chapter 26. 
Subsequent trip to the South — "Among; Loyal Moun- 
taineers" 226-255 

CHAPtER 27. 

Visit to Florence, Alabama, after twenty-five years.. 256^264 

Chapter 28. 
Recent Correspondence — Memorial Address at 
Athens, Ohio, May 30, 1886, before the 
G. A. R. Post, the Faculty and Students of the 
Ohio University and citizens of Athens — An Ad- 
dress given June 8, 1908, at Memorial Services, 
with flowers on the graves of the Confederate 
Dead at Camp Chase, Ohio — Incident in which 
Captain Brooks of Knoxville, Tenn., saved the 
life of an indiscreet Northern "Drummer," in 
1861 — A near view of Lincoln by Jonathan F. 
Linton, editor of The Daily Union City 
Chronicle of Illinois, in 1865, and a friend of the 
President ; Mr. Linton also served at R. Q. M. 
in the 30th III. Vol. Infantry 265-305 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE. 

Ashley, Edw. M., Q. M. Sergt 71 

Black, Chas. W 34 

Black, J. Morton, Orderly and Aide 16 

Brown, Thos., Capt 71 

Cochran, Thos. J., Lt 128 

Coe, Albin, Capt 71 

Curren, A. J 132 

Daniels, Jos., Capt 68 

Ely, Wm. B., Lt 128 

Gamble, Jas. L., Sergt. Co. "G" 145 

Gatch, A. P., Capt 132 

Hamilton, Arthur T., Adj 9 

Hamilton, Henry 9 

Hamilton, Robt. J 9 

Hamilton, WiUiam 9 

Hamilton, William Douglas Frontispiece 

Hamilton, Gen. W. D Opposite Frontispiece 

Henderson, Wm., Capt 270 

Hill, Geo. H., Sergt •• 128 

Hogue, Elijah, Capt 61 

Iliff, Thos. Corwin, Sergt 271 

Irvine, Jas., Maj 68 

Kinnear, Wm. R., Corp 270 

Mann, E. L., Capt 191 

Mills, Warner, Capt 39 

(XV) 



XVI ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE. 

Moffit, Robt. H., Hospital Stewards 186, 188 

Morrison, Henry A., Lt 68 

Nachtrieb, Michael, Musician 128 

Pinney, Chas. H., Asst. Surgeon 68 

Rownd, Robt. M.. Chief Bugler 185 

Selser, Volney 34 

Sickinger, Robt 132 

Sniff, Albert, Sergt 20 

Spencer, Harry L., Sergt 76 

Spencer, Wm 34 

Stewart, John M., Lt 65 

Swing, P. F., Capt 152 

Thirty-second Regt.. O. V. 1 12 

Van Ottanger, Max, Lt • • 71 

Winnett, W. S., Capt 65 



CHAPTER I. 
Family History. 

My father, William Hamilton, belonged to the 
Orbiston branch of the Hamiltons of Scotland. The 
family estate bordered on the River Clyde, sixteen 
miles above Glasgow. 

It was on this estate, near the beginning of the 
19th century that the celebrated socialist, Robert 
Dale Owen, established his "Industrial Community" 
and obtained funds to erect extensive cotton mills to 
be operated on his plan of ^'common ownership" the 
failure of which involved the estate and caused it to 
fall into the control of the Hamiltons of Dallzell, an- 
other branch of the family. The ruins of this enter- 
prise still stand on the property, a monument to the 
blighting influence of a visionary enthusiast. 

In the spring of 1838, my father and mother with 
three little children, myself, aged 6, my brother John, 
aged 4, my sister, Marion, aged 2 years, with three 
servants sailed from Glasgow with Captain Coffin in 
the good ship William Tell, bound for New York. 
Three years prior to this (in 1835) my father's 
brother Robert, and my mother's brother, Robert 
Jack, two young men, had preceded us to select a 
location in the New World. They reached Pittsburg, 

(1) 



2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

at that time an industrial center of Scotch enterprise 
and thrift. From there they traveled on foot to 
Zanesville, and along the "National Road" to Co- 
lumbus, Ohio, looking for good land, on good roads, 
near good coal. All this v^as rather difficult to find 
in those days. They finally selected a location a few 
miles west of Zanesville, between the villages of 
Gratiot and Brownsville, Licking County, where my 
Uncle Robert Hamilton bought a farm. My mother's 
brother, being an only son, had an "expectancy" at 
home but wanted to see the country. 

Our trip across was before the days of great 
ocean steamers and we were subject to the usual dis- 
comforts of a six weeks' sail, but we children were 
supplied with plenty of good fresh milk from the 
Captain's cow for our oatmeal porridge, and were 
quite happy when not sea-sick. 

We landed in New York at the "Battery." After 
a short stay among friends in that growing city we 
boarded a steamer which took us up the Hudson 
river to Albany. Here we were transferred to a 
railroad for Schenectady — twelve miles, it being at 
that time the only piece of railroad between New 
York and the great West. The speed of the train 
did not prevent one of our men from jumping off 
the car while the train was drawn up a grade by a 
stationary engine at the top, and running forward to a 
pump to get a pitcher of water for the children, as 
the day was warm and we were thirsty. 

At Schenectady we boarded a packet boat on the 



FAMILY HISTORY. 3 

Erie Canal drawn by three good horses, driven 
tandem at a lively pace and changed at relay stations 
every ten miles, this being the **fast line limited." 
Three days' delightful travel brought us to Buffalo, 
where we took a lake steamer for Cleveland. We 
found the short, jerky waves of that shallow, land- 
bound lake more disturbing than the long, rolling 
swell of the ocean, and we were glad, after spending a 
night in that young city of five thousand inhabitants, 
to be consigned to the quiet waters of the Ohio Canal 
to begin the last stage of our long pilgrimage. 

The charm of woodland and prairie along the 
northern stretches of this water-way did not impress 
my boyish mind so much as did some of the inci- 
dents of the journey. 

On one occasion my dear little sister, Marion, 
ventured unnoticed by her nurse too near the prow 
of the boat and fell overboard, causing quite an ex- 
citement among the passengers. Her clothes kept her 
afloat until the boat had almost passed her. I well 
remember the heroic plunge of the helmsman into the 
waist deep water to save the "drowning child" and 
the beaming smile upon his face on receipt of the 
thanks and reward my father gave him. It was mid- 
summer, and the sight of the tall, growing corn and 
strange fruit interested us all. The captain had roast- 
ing ears for dinner which I thought very fine, and 
their peculiar flavor remained a memory to be re- 
newed every year on tasting my first roasting ear of 
the season, and sometimes lingered pleasantly during 



4 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the stirring times of the great war when that food 
was sometimes about our only article of diet. 

The village of Nashport, between Newark and 
Zanesville, near the Licking river, marked the end 
of our voyaging, for we found my uncle's wagon and 
driver waiting for us, and we finished the remaining 
ten miles across the rugged "Flint Ridge" where we 
were shown great old pits which we were told the 
Indians had dug for a peculiar flint out of which they 
formed their arrow heads. A three hours' drive 
brought us to the National Road, then five years old, 
which we were all delighted to see for it was in sharp 
contrast with the rough wagon track over which we 
had just passed. We were soon welcomed by our 
Uncle Robert and his charming young wife, the hand- 
some daughter of a good English family near Zanes- 
ville, who was a kind aunt to us until she died two 
years ago. 

Here we spent the winter and I was sent to school 
in a log cabin about a mile away in the woods. It 
was the surprise of the school that the little Scotch 
lad six years old could read the Testament and **say 
the ten commandments off the book." 

The Bible is a school-book in Scotland. 

In the spring my father bought a fine 200-acre 
farm across the line in Muskingum County, and this 
became the home of our family. 



CHAPTER 2. 
The Scotch Colony. 

Soon others of our friends came from Scotland ; 
other farms were bought and a Scotch colony was 
established about the year 1840 around the villages 
of Gratiot and Brownsville, two miles apart. Schools 
and churches were founded and Sunday schools were 
established. Profanity and drinking were unknown. 
Saloons which had flourished during the construction 
of the National Road gradually disappeared and not 
one has been able to live in either village during the 
last sixty years. 

In 185 1 I became a student of the Ohio Wesleyan 
University at Delaware, Ohio, where I took an ir- 
regular course, teaching school at home part of the 
time. I then became a student of law under Judge 
Buckingham of Newark and completed the course in 
the Cincinnati Law School under Judge Bellamy 
Storer in 1858. In the spring of 1859 I became the 
junior partner in the law firm of Ball and Hamilton 
in Zanesville, Ohio. 

This partnership was terminated in 186 1 by the 
opening of the civil war. I had been taken ill with 
typhoid fever and was lying at my father's house on 
the farm when the news of the attack on Fort Sumter 

(5) 



6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

set the North on fire. The President called for 75,000 
volunteers for three months, as it was supposed the 
trouble could be adjusted by that time. Recruiting 
offices were opened in nearly all the county seats in 
the state. 

Three companies were soon organized in Zanes- 
ville, and a fourth was commenced in our vicinity. 
One day Ulysses Westbrook, one of my village 
schoolmates, came to my room and told me that this 
company was being recruited by himself and Albert 
Spaulding of Zanesville, who belonged to a military 
company and understood military drill, and that about 
fifty men had been enlisted. But other companies 
were ahead of them and he despaired of completing 
their company in time. *'But," said he, "if you will 
come and help us and say you will take the captaincy, 
I think we can fill it up in time to be accepted." 

During my slow convalescence I had plenty of 
time to talk to my father and determine my duty in 
case of a rupture between the states, so I replied, 'T 
will come and help you if I can, but I know but little 
of military affairs and Spaulding should be the cap- 
tain." 'That is very good," returned Westbrook, "but 
nearly all the men are my recruits. They don't know 
Spaulding and they all know you and there are a 
good many other young men around here who will 
join us if you will go. We are to have a meeting to- 
morrow night at Brownsville. If you will come to 
the meeting we will send a carriage for you. The 
meeting was held in the street and I talked from a 



THE SCOTCH COLONY. 7 

Store box, urging the duty of the young men in the 
present crisis, and seven added their names to the 
roll. 

Little by little the company roll was increased, but 
before the full number was secured, the Ohio quota 
was filled, and we were left out. A number of the 
boys accepted appointments to fill vacancies in the 
more fortunate companies and our efforts at that time 
were ended. The disastrous battle of Bull Run and 
the President's new call for troops revived our ac- 
tivities. I was notified by Governor Dennison that 
my company would be received on enlistment for 
three years or during the war. 

The community of which our little Scotch colony 
formed a part was generally loyal to the government. 
Although the institution of slavery was abhorred they 
were not inclined to interfere with the recognized 
rights of the southern states. Still the ill advised acts 
of that section produced an alarmed feeling of sor- 
row and foreboding. They relied with hopeful con- 
fidence upon the wisdom of the president-elect who 
was now to take the helm of the crippled Ship of 
State to guide it through the reefs which threatened it. 

As Mr. Lincoln passed through Newark on his 
way to Washington for his inauguration my father 
was one of a number that gathered to meet him, but 
he came home disappointed and apprehensive, saying 
that when the train stopped a tall, ungainly man ap- 
peared on the platform and in a very ordinary way 
said in substance as follows : "My Fellow Citizens : — 



8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

It gives me pleasure to see so many good citizens 
of the great state of Ohio, and of your city with so 
many nice, happy-looking children before me." He 
then looked out upon the distant hills and remarked, 
"You have a beautiful country with its forest and 
hills. The state I come from is level but I was born 
in Kentucky and always loved the hills." He did 
not allude to where he was going nor what he was 
going to do. And my father said with a sigh, "I 
don't think he knows very well himself. I fear we 
have elected a man who is not great enough to realize 
the responsibilities he has to meet." But later events 
showed in that simple, evasive speech the intuitive 
wisdom of that wonderful man. 




Robert J. Hamilton, 
Mortally Wounded Dec. .11, 
18(U, at Camp Alleghany. 



In Memoriam. 



Died of Exposure on Cheat 
Mountain, Dec. 11, 1861. 



Hexrv Hamilton. 





Adj. Arthur T. Hamilton, 

Mortally Wounded in Battle. Aiken, 

Mar. 11. ISCl. 



William Hamilton, 
Died of Exposure and Starva- 
tion, Andersonville, 18ti4. 



CHAPTER 3. 
The Call to the Colors. 

Enemies were following the president-elect eager 
to report and misconstrue his every word. A plot was 
laid to take his life as he passed through Baltimore 
and he knew it. A few weeks later, however, the 
people here were willing to meet the issue and the 
president's call for 75,000 three months' men to quell 
the disturbance was eagerly responded to, as above 
related. 

The rush to the colors produced by the first call 
for troops was modified by the seriousness of the 
outlook now, and the virulent opposition of the "Cop- 
perheads" (so-called). This made recruiting for this 
second call difhcult. The opposition to the new ad- 
ministration, which had been checked by the Fort 
Sumter insult, was revived. Sneering intimations 
were circulated that the whole afTair was "a scheme 
of the abolitionists to free the niggers," and the in- 
justice of carrying on a war against the southern 
states and the crime of attempting to destroy the 
vested rights of these people was heard on every 
street corner, and gathering place in the country. But 
recruiting went on all the same. Meetings calling for 
volunteers were held in our country school houses 

(^0 



10 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

encouraged by our ablest men. But if an officer had 
intimated that it was to free the "niggers" he could 
not have secured a man. 

Our little Scotch colony contained at this time six- 
teen young men within the military age; of these 
fourteen entered the service during the war. Two 
Hamiltons from my father's family, myself and 
youngest brother, Robert, leaving only my brother 
John to care for our home affairs. In my Uncle 
Robert Hamilton's family there were five boys; of 
these, William, Henry, Arthur and Daniel volunteered, 
leaving James, the youngest, at college. He after- 
wards became a Presbyterian minister. Of Mr. 
Black's family there were three; Dr. James Black, 
who became a surgeon in the 76th O. V. L, Charles 
W., and Morton Black; their cousin Mr. Morton's 
son, Robert; Mr. Miller's only son, John Miller, 
killed at Vicksburg; and John H. Bell. William 
Craig, a cousin of ours from Scotland, volunteered 
and served with us, but returned to Scotland after 
the war. Ten of these went with me in the beginning. 

The village of Roseville furnished a contingent of 
thirteen to our company. The unlucky tradition of 
this number was not borne out in their history, for 
these thirteen, all faithful and efficient soldiers, messed 
together, slept together, marched together, fought to- 
gether and endured together all the hardships of four 
long years, including Vicksburg and the grand march, 
and returned together, unbroken in number, spirit and 
self-respect. 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS. II 

When the roster of our company neared com- 
pletion, the men were gathered into camp on the old 
Fair Grounds at Zanesville, August 13th, 1861. Here 
we began the A B C of our military education. 1 had 
been chosen Captain; Albert Spaulding, First Lieu- 
tenant ; and Ulysses Westbrook, Second Lieutenant. 

One day a young stranger came into camp and 
introduced himself as Sheldon Guthrie of New 
Orleans, a relative of the prominent and highly re- 
spected family of that name in Zanesville. As he 
wished to enter the service, his uncle, Austin Guthrie, 
sent him to me. He said he had five years' train- 
ing in a military company at home, for such had long 
been the fashionable athletics of the young men of 
the South. He frankly asked a lieutenancy, but said 
he would be content with whatever I could give that 
would be of most value to the company. He was a 
serious and self-possessed young man and deeply im- 
pressed with the advantage the South possessed 
through the years of military training its young men 
had received. He responded gladly to my invitation 
to visit us for a few days, and the next morning when 
I gave him a squad to drill I noticed with satisfaction 
his familiarity with the regulations, and the prudent 
ability with which he applied his knowledge. 

After his enlistment I appointed him First Sergeant 
of the company and I have always felt that much of 
the good military character which our company main- 
tained was due to his efficiency; and I am pleased to 
record that he served throughout the war and com- 



T2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

manded the regiment as Lieutenant Colonel at its close. 
He afterwards returned to the South, and died in 1912. 
This company was the first three-year company that 
entered the service from Muskingum County. 

On September ist, 1861, I received an order to 
report with my company to Colonel Thomas H. Ford 
at Mansfield, Ohio. As the company of one hundred 
men marched in column to the railroad station, the 
streets were lined with fathers, mothers, sisters and 
sweethearts, laughing, cheering and crying; and with 
prayers for our safety they bade us good-bye. All 
this impressed us with the solemn importance of the 
mission we had undertaken. On September 4, 1861, 
our company was mustered into the United States 
service and assigned as Company "G" to the 32nd 
O. V. I., Colonel Thomas H. Ford commanding. 

We were then sent to camp Dennison near Cincin- 
nati where we received our equipment, and were armed 
with old, long-barreled, large-calibered, muzzle-load- 
ing muskets. These had been discarded by the Austrian 
government and bought for our use, as the best that 
could be got at that time. Conspirators in Buchanan's 
administration had transferred to the southern states 
all the artillery and small arms they could secure. The 
Secretary of War (Floyd) sent an order to Pittsburg 
for the shipment of a large consignment of new artil- 
lery to New Orleans. This was prevented by the 
citizens of that loyal city. 

After ten days of drill practice we were ordered on 
the loth of September, to Cheat Mountain Gap for 



o 



n 

c 



p 

CO 

c 

p 




THE CALL TO THE COLORS. 1 3 

the purpose of checking the advance of Brigadier 
General R. E. Lee into western Virginia. While we 
were preparing for this movement I received a tele- 
gram from home saying that my father was danger- 
ously ill. I went home at once and two days after my 
arrival he died. He had been seriously concerned 
about the prospect of his adopted country's trouble. 
He had given two of his three sons to the chances of 
war. In the delirium before his death he talked of 
war and pictured scenes of strife as if he were with 
Colonel Ford and the regiment. In a lucid moment 
he called me to him and said, "William, take good care 
of Robert and be a father to him in my place." Then 
looking up with a confident smile, he died. 

After the funeral my brother Robert and I, with 
some others of the company, followed the regiment to 
its station at Cheat Mountain Gap in western Vir- 
ginia, a dreary place of an altitude of 2,500 feet and 
covered with a thick growth of pine trees, except a 
clearing of about three acres on which stood an old 
log cabin known as "Soldier White's Tavern." This 
served as a stopping place for travelers on this, the 
principal road to east Virginia, and was the only 
habitation for twenty miles through the mountains. 

We found the boys of our regiment with axes hard 
at work clearing ground for our tents. A place to 
drill was out of the question. 

The 9th and 13th Indiana and the 25th Ohio Regi- 
ments had, the week before, repulsed the enemy com- 
manded by Brigadier General Robert E. Lee in an 



14 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

attempt to break through the Gap. In this irregular 
battle General Bushrod Washington, the last male sur- 
vivor of the Washington family, and an intimate 
friend of General Lee, was killed. 

The enemy had fallen back to their camp across 
Cheat river on the Staunton pike ten miles east of the 
Gap, and, as it was expected that they would renew 
the attack, our regiment had been hurried forward to 
re-enforce the brigade, which now consisted of about 
four thousand raw recruits. 

We were not soldiers except in name; four thous- 
and boys from the country, under the command of an 
Indiana lawyer who, we were told, had seen some ser- 
vice in the Mexican War, and whom we learned to 
know as Brigadier General Kimball. Four thousand 
sons of honest tradesmen and farmers, just from com- 
fortable homes, unaccustomed to the rigors of camp 
life, were thus huddled together on a desolate moun- 
tain top where the winter had already begun. We had 
little knowledge of military duty and no opportunity to 
drill except in the use of the axe, with which most of 
the boys had served their apprenticeship. Trees had to 
be cut, places cleared for tents and a hospital built for 
the sick. A portable sawmill was sent from Zanesville, 
Ohio. Logs had to be cut and carried to the mill on 
handspikes over the rough and rocky ground on the 
mountain sides. A driving snow storm began to sweep 
the mountain. The boys had been furnished with only 
one blanket each and an oil cloth *'poncho" to keep 
them warm. The only water we could get was melted 



THE CALL TO THE COLORS. 1 5 

snow. Now as I look back through the sunlight and 
shadow of more than fifty years all this remains in my 
memory as a weird dream of a former existence. 

I studied as best I could to learn the duties of an 
officer and familiarize myself with the hardships of an 
enlisted man. Sometimes I went out with the pickets 
to see how the sergeant placed his men. Once during 
a snow storm I remained all night at a post near the 
enemy's line. We formed a shelter of brush by the 
side of a log. In the morning the snow was ten inches 
deep. When the officer of the guard came around and 
saw me he exclaimed, in surprise, "Why, Captain, what 
in the world are you doing here ?" I replied that I was 
taking lessons in the duties of a soldier's life. I con- 
sidered it for the good of the service that my men 
should belive implicity that I would not ask them to 
do anything I did not understand, nor go anywhere 
that I would not be willing to be with them. 



CHAPTER 4. 
Our First Battle. 

On October 3d, General Kimball decided to attack 
the enemy. With that purpose in view orders were is- 
sued to the different regiments to have their companies 
in line fully armed, and with two day's rations, ready to 
march at one o'clock in the morning. This was serious 
business, but, at the hour named. Company "G" was 
in line, and as First Sergeant Guthrie, who had already 
committed our muster roll to memory, called the names 
in the dark, all answered but one private. I went to his 
tent and found him looking around in a dazed manner. 
I said, "George, what is the matter with you ? Why are 
you not in line?" ''1 can't find my cartridge box," he 
stammered. I saw it at his feet and told him to buckle 
it on and get into line. He looked at me and with a 
trembling voice replied, ''Captain, I feel that I am not 
prepared to die." I somewhat impatiently told him to 
buckle on his cartridge box, fall into line and do his 
duty for that was all God required of him. George 
obeyed, answered to his name, and before the war 
closed the poor boy tested my theology, for he gave his 
life for his country in the line of duty. 

The brigade as now formed consisted of the 9th and 
13th Indiana, the 25th and 32d Ohio, and marched in 

(16) 




J. MoRTox Black, 
Orderly and Efficient Aide, 9th O V. C. 



OUR FIRST BATTLE. 1 7 

the order named, General Kimball commanding. The 
road wound zig-zag down the mountain which was 
covered with timber. The night was dark and still. 
Now and then a frightened deer could be heard leaping 
away through the underbrush, and the wicked screams 
of disturbed catamounts calling to each other from the 
opposite mountain sides, and great horned owls began 
the sentinel's challenge, "Who, who (goes there?") Be- 
fore we reached the foot of the mountain the moon 
arose, and orders came to reverse arms lest its rays 
reflecting upon our polished muskets might betray our 
coming. All this seemed to come like weird warnings 
from a strange world, and caused the boys to feel that 
they were a long ways from home. 

The enemy's camp was situated upon the same road 
across the Cheat river about a mile from the foot of 
the mountain. A road known as the '*Gum Road" 
running parallel with the river, intersected the main 
road at the foot of the mountain. Here our command 
halted at 4 o'clock in the morning for an hour's 
rest. I was then ordered to take my company 
to the right, along this road about a mile, to pre- 
vent or give notice of a flank movement of the 
enemy from that direction. After marching about 
that distance we came to a spur of the mountain 
about 3CX) yards from the river. At its foot a large 
white pine tree, nearly three feet in diameter and with- 
out a limb for more than a hundred feet, had fallen 
diagonally toward the road in our direction. I placed 



l8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

my company behind this ready-made breast-work and 
waited somewhat nervously for the coming of the 
enemy. Presently we heard distant footsteps among 
the leaves, and soon a whisper from the men, "Lis- 
ten, they are coming." We saw dimly in the river 
fog an armed man walking — then another — then a 
third. I now was confronted by my first military prob- 
lem. What should I do? If these men in military 
overcoats were the advance of an approaching force 
and I fired upon them the main body would be warned 
and make their disposition either to attack or flank us. 
If ordered to halt and surrender they would probably 
fire upon us and thus report our presence. If they 
were scouts they must be captured with as little noise 
as possible, and I decided to try this myself. I di- 
rected Lieutenant Westbrook to keep the men hid 
until I ordered, "Halt." He was then to cover the 
foe with his guns, but not fire. Slipping quietly over 
the log, I started cautiously at right angles to intercept 
them. Bravely enough I prepared to cover them with 
my pistol, but to my surprise a strange rebellion took 
possession of my legs. They wobbled like two sticks 
trying to support a load. This feeling increased the 
farther I got from our log. I had the men covered 
with my pistol, but I did not know then nor have I 
ever been quite sure whether I had it cocked or not. 
They grew in my eyes to at least seven feet in height. 
I tried to order them to halt, but my mouth would 
not go off. About that time, however, I heard the 
cocking of a hundred guns behind the log; then my 



OUR FIRST BATTLE. I9 

mouth let loose. By this time the three men in front 
took in the situation and when I succeeded in ordering 
them to lay down their arms, they did. Thinking that 
I might get some important information, I demanded 
to what regiment they belonged. The tall sergeant (I 
was sure he was 7 feet) replied with a quizzical smile, 
"The 13th Indiana. What is yours?" 

I have been consoled by old hunters who told me 
that it was a case of "buck-fever" that had upset me. 
My men thought I did a brave act and cheered me on 
my return, and it was nearly a year before I had the 
courage to tell them how scared I was. That did not 
lessen the shame for the unsoldierly weakness I felt, 
and, for other reasons my tactics on that occasion 
would not merit the approval of military critics. The 
proper place for a captain in time of danger is with 
his company. I should have sent a subordinate with 
proper support, and kept the company in hand to 
meet any emergency. But, after all, the experience 
was valuable, for it began a confidence between my 
company and me that continued as long as we were 
permitted to remain together. 

On the approach of daylight the battle began at 
the ford. We heard the roar of contending artillery 
and fire of musketry for the first time, October 3d. 
1861. 

About 10 o'clock a courier came with orders to 
return. We found the brigade in column returning 
to our camp on the mountain. The damage in sight 
as the result of the engagement was a lot of broken 
artillery and wagons, some disabled guns drawn by 



20 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

crippled horses which had been struck by pieces of 
exploded shells, and a few dead and wounded men in 
the ambulance for which we were detailed as rear 
guard on the way to camp. The papers throughout 
the North reported that on October 3d General Kim- 
ball had made a "very successful reconnoisance in 
force against the enemy on Cheat river." 

All that night, however, the command was kept at 
work preparing to receive the enemy in case they 
should incline to return the call, which however they 
did not do. Cold weather and snow soon came to our 
cheerless camp. Our tents were poor shelter from the 
mountain storms. We could not even drill to keep 
warm but were employed in cutting logs to build win- 
ter quarters. These were carried by the men and 
put upon the ground we had cleared for that pur- 
pose. Larger logs were cut and carried in the same 
way as before to the mill and sawed into lumber for 
roofing, flooring, tables and sleeping bunks, into which 
the men were huddled with but little covering. All 
this was a fearful experience for boys who had just 
left comfortable homes in Ohio. 

OUR FIRST DEATH. 

A hospital was soon established, built like the 
cabins but upon a larger scale. This was soon 
crowded and the men began to die. John Crosland 
was the first of our company to go. We made a cof- 
fin of green boards for his body which I kept in my 
tent all night. I wrote a notice of his sickness and 
death upon the lid and sent it with his body to his 




Sergeant Albert Sniff, 
Co. "G," 32d O. V. I. 

Prominent minister in M. E. Church, died Sept. 1, 1904, 
whose daughter, Miss Madge, rendered valuable assist- 
ance as stenographer in compiling this book. 



OUR FIRST BATTLE. 21 

people near Uniontown, also a copy to the Zanesville 
Courier. I give this in marked contrast to the way 
we disposed of the dead later on. 

Many became so dangerously ill that Colonel Ford 
procured an order to move his regiment down the 
mountain twelve miles to the town of Beverly for 
better accommodations, and here new quarters had 
to be built. While we were at work on these build- 
ings Colonel Ford received an order from General 
Milroy, then in command, dated December loth, to 
report with his regiment back to the Gap to join in 
an advance on the enemy stationed at Camp Alle- 
ghany, thirty miles east of the Gap on the road to 
Staunton. 

At this time many of the line officers and all the 
field officers, except the Colonel, were either sick or 
absent. The Colonel showed me the order, saying 
that neither he nor the regiment was able to make the 
trip and that he was going to so report. 

I knew that there was not the best feeling exist- 
ing between the Colonel and General Milroy and that 
this refusal would work an injury to both him and 
the regiment, and I suggested that he send a copy of 
the order to the different companies with a statement 
of the regiment's condition, but calling for volunteers 
for the expedition. This he said he would do if I 
would go in command. I told him I was willing to 
go, but as the Captain of Company "G" I was not the 
ranking officer and not entitled to command. The 
Colonel replied, 'T will arrange that matter. Those 
who are ready for duty and whose commissions ante- 



22 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

date yours I will detail on some other duty and then 
place the volunteers under your command and give 
you a note to General Milroy explaining our condi- 
tion here." 

This was arranged, and about two hundred of the 
best men and officers of the regiment, including fifty 
of my own company under Lieutenant Westbrook, 
reported for duty. We started ^at afternoon, De- 
cember nth, 1861, with three days' rations and one 
blanket each and marched six miles to Huttonville, 
where we bunched together for the night in the fence 
corners of a meadow at the foot of the mountain. 
At 10 o'clock the next morning I reported to General 
Milroy in the gap at the top and gave him Colonel 
Ford's note. After dinner the brigade, consisting of 
the 9th and 13th Indiana, the 25th Ohio and the de- 
tachment of the 32d O. V. I., started over the road 
of our night march six weeks before. We crossed 
Cheat river and rested in the camp recently occupied 
by the enemy. 

I was surprised to find no empty bottles nor packs 
of cards, but Sunday school papers, and, in one case, 
a Testament with a mother's blessing written on the 
fly leaf, and letters written by fathers, mothers, sis- 
ters and sweethearts, all full of affection; some of 
them from mothers urging their dear sons not to for- 
get their prayers. These were addressed to the boys 
of the I2th Georgia Regiment. This was a revelation 
which went far to modify my feelings towards the 
Southern people. 



CHAPTER 5. 
Battle of Camp Alleghany. 

At 2 o'clock A. M. December 13th, 1861, the com- 
mand started, as it was General Milroy's hope to take 
the enemy by surprise. When within three miles of 
their camp, which was located on a plateau of the 
Alleghanies, Colonel Moody was ordered to take his 
regiment quietly around to the rear of the camp and 
begin his attack when he heard our guns. 

After a short rest we proceeded — our detachment 
in front, followed by the 25th O. V. I. and the 13th 
Indiana. In a strip of timber when nearing the camp, 
our skirmishers encountered the enemy's pickets and 
were fired upon and one of our advance badly 
wounded. He was carried back along our column. 
The men were so tired and sleepy that they were 
marching almost mechanically, but were aroused by 
the firing and were so badly affected by the sight and 
the groaning of the wounded man that I sent word 
to the Lieutenant commanding the skirmish line not 
to send wounded men back along the column as it 
had a bad effect upon the men. 

Beyond the timber there was a field rising at an 
angle of about fifteen degrees up to the plateau. On 
this plateau the timber was still standing and back of 

(23) 



24 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

it their barricades were constructed. We pressed 
forward as rapidly as possible, driving the pickets 
before us, and one of these we captured. We formed 
into line, hoping to find the enemy unprepared, but 
they were kneeling in line on the brow of the hill 
waiting for us. My command formed our left flank; 
the 13th Indiana, the right ; and the 25th O. V. I. the 
center. When we came within close range they arose 
with a terrible yell and fired upon us. But they made 
the mistake common to all raw soldiers; in their ex- 
citement they fired too high. We halted long enough 
to return the fire but made the same mistake, for the 
same reason. But the battle was on. We could 
scarcely see them for the smoke, but the noise was 
terrific. The men became confused and began 
to waver. I myself felt uncomfortable until a brac- 
ing thought came to me, and I called out, "Steady, 
boys, keep steady. Remember we are making half 
this noise." The brave fellows cheered and rushed 
forward with shout, driving the enemy into the tim- 
ber toward their works; and the roar of the battle 
and the shouting was all along the line. 

Close on our right a big, burly fellow of the 25th 
was pressing ahead and shouting as he turned, "Come 
on, boys, come on. Lets give 'em h-U". Soon a ball 
from the front hit him in the heel ; he threw his gun 
in the air and limped across our line shouting, "Oh, 
Lordie, Oh, Lordie," in such a dismal way as to 
raise, a laugh, which, however, helped to steady the 
nerves of all the boys that saw him. 



BATTLE OF CAMP ALLEGHANY. 25 

We had driven the enemy to the edge of the tim- 
ber but saw reinforcements coming from their works 
to attack our right flank. Nothing had been heard 
from Colonel Moody, who should have been on hand 
to give them something else to do. They charged our 
right flank in force. The 13th Indiana held them for 
a time but was overpowered and began slowly to fall 
back. I called to our boys to take to the trees and 
hold their ground. This; they did for a while, but the 
enemy was pressing the 25th regiment hard and soon 
we had to fall back to the woods, fighting as well as a 
retreat would permit. The lack of Colonel Moody's 
help made the day a failure. 

Earlier in the battle, George Harvey, one of my 
men, called to me and said there was something the 
matter with his gun — it would not "go off" and had 
hurt his shoulder the last time he fired. I told him to 
throw it down and find another one. After the fight 
he brought his gun to me to examine. The muzzle 
was slightly spread, showing two small cracks. Upon 
unbreeching the gun we found a Minnie ball at the 
bottom of the barrel with the point down. We used 
round balls in our muskets, while the enemy, with 
better arms, used Minnie balls. It was plainly evident 
that at the instant Harvey had fired, a ball from the 
enemy had entered his gun and produced the effect 
he had complained of. 

Bullets have been known to meet in the air, but 
this is the only instance I ever heard of during the 



26 RFXOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

war in which a bullet of one side crossed the line to 
hide itself in the barrel of the other. 

We listened anxiously for Colonel Moody's guns, 
but his guide was misled in the darkness and the 
troops which he was to engage were free to rein- 
force those opposing us. 

They concentrated on our right flank and center 
which began to fall back across our rear. I ordered 
my men to follow slowly, which they did. They had 
been fighting well in the front, and I learned after- 
wards that S. H. Prior, one of my best and bravest 
men, had been killed while pressing forward. It is 
a strange fact that two nights before the battle he 
came to me and said, "Captain, I have a presentment 
that I will be killed in the next engagement ; it troubles 
me and I have come to tell you and to ask if you 
would join me in prayer." This was a remarkable 
incident ; but I took his hand and we walked out to a 
log and knelt together there. 

The yells of the enemy quickened our pace, but 
my brother Robert at my side with his tall comrades 
of the first platoon, said, "William, let us not run." 
We all walked instead, at a lively pace, it is true, but 
in good order. In a short time my brother stopped 
and said, "William, I am hit." I caught him and 
asked, where. He replied, "On my leg somewhere. 
I don't know exactly where." I took him by the arm 
and he tried to walk, but fell. I told the boys to 
spread a blanket on which we laid him, and four of 



BATTLE OF CAMP ALLEGIIAXV. 27 

his comrades carried him down the hill. Six of the 
first platoon to which he belonged walked behind with 
me, all armed and determined to protect him at any 
cost. The enemy made a rush with a shout, and Rob- 
ert said, 'Tut me down, boys, put me down. Don't 
get captured." But they all replied, "Not much, we 
will never leave you, Robert !" 

I bitterly thought of the injunction which my 
father had given me on his death-bed three months 
before when he feebly said, "Take good care of 
Robert, my son; take good care of the boy and be a 
father to him." This hour was the only time during 
the war in which I ever courted danger, and I remem- 
ber the wish that I were as big as a barn that I might 
shelter the brave young boy from their flying bul- 
lets. His comrades carried him from the field, while 
we maintained a guard retreating slowly behind him. 
The enemy soon left us, preferring to follow men 
whose backs they saw. We carried Robert to the 
wagons where we made a fire, for his foot was 
cold. The ball had gone through his leg just below 
the knee and had broken the smaller bone and cut the 
nerve. The surgeon said, 'Tt is a bad wound." 

Shortly^ after this, Coloneli Moody's guns were 
heard on the far side of the enemy's camp, but it was 
too late. Some of the dead were left on the field but 
the wounded were brought off. I did not then know 
that Sam Prior was killed. Their wounds were 
dressed; they were then placed in wagons because 
we had no ambulances. I filled one of them with my 



28 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

brother and four other wounded; gave my horse to 
Lieutenant Westbrook and drove the team myself on 
our return that cold December night. 

This was the saddest trip I ever made. The 
mountain road was rocky and rough. The moaning 
of the wounded men and their continual plea for 
water made the night dismal. Water could be pro- 
cured only by breaking the ice in the horses' foot- 
prints of the night before. When we arrived at mid- 
night at the Mountain Gap two of the boys in the 
wagon were dead. On my return to our camp at 
Beverly next day I found that my counsin, Henry 
Hamilton, whom I had left very low, had died, and 
his body had been taken home by his brother Arthur, 
the day before. The father was notified and came 
but missed the wagon on the mud road between Graf- 
ton and Beverly. 

On examining my brother Robert's wound, our 
surgeon, Dr. Brundage, asked me if we had an ex- 
perienced surgeon at home. I told him we had and 
asked why he inquired. He said, "This wound is a 
bad one for which the books prescribe amputation 
and I would rather not take such a responsibility." I 
got a common springless wagon, laid him on straw, 
the best I could find ; then I wrapped him in blankets 
and drove him forty miles to Grafton where I put 
him on the cars for Zanesville. 

After an examination there, Dr. Hildreth said, 
"The leg should have been amputated before, blood 
poison has begun and there is now not more than 



BATTLE OF CAMP ALLEGPIANY. 29 

one chance in twenty to save his life. If it is 
not done, there is no chance." The doctor explained 
the situation in the presence of mother, my brother 
John and me. Robert was told. He replied, "I am 
willing to submit to whatever you think best. His 
leg was taken off, but mortification had begun. He 
suffered but little in the week he lived. He was fond 
of music, and after singing one of his favorite Sun- 
day school songs in a gentle, sweet voice, he bright- 
ened up as he turned his head to me and said, "Wil- 
liam, they can't say we played the coward, can they?" 

He died at noon the next day. We started home 
with the body in the afternoon, the hearse draped 
with the flag for which he had given his life. Two 
companies of the 78th O. V. L, then organizing at 
Zanesville, were detailed by Colonel Leggett as an 
escort through the city. On reaching home at 9 P. M. 
it was found that it would not be advisable to wait 
until morning, and at midnight we laid his body to 
rest beside the grave of his father, made three months 
before, and that of his cousin Henry who died in camp 
the day that Robert was shot. 

This was a severe beginning of the war expe- 
rience for our family, and well calculated to increase 
a feeling of bitterness towards the men who had 
brought on the war. But I could not feel a hatred 
for the soldier whose bullet had struck down my 
brother. One of the regiments we were fighting 
was the 12th Georgia, in whose deserted camp we 
found the letters which had impressed me with the 
fact that they religiously believed that they were fight- 



30 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

ing for a just cause for which their mothers were 
praying, and I felt even then that I could in sadness 
take the hand of the young soldier who fired the shot, 
in recognition of the fact that he was as faithful to his 
teachings as I was to mine. 

One of the greatest friends we had while our 
company remained in Beverly was Mrs. Arnold, the 
wife of the most prominent citizen of the town. She 
was a strong Union woman and a faithful friend of 
our sick and wounded boys, often taking them home 
and caring for them, supplying delicacies which they 
could get nowhere else. Mrs. Arnold was especially 
interesting to us as being the sister and only near 
relative of Stonewall Jackson, the greatest military 
genius of the South, but of whom she seldom spoke 
except to express regret that he had taken up arms 
against his country. In her declining years she made 
her home at Shepard's Sanatarium in Columbus, 
Ohio, and one of the interesting features of our re- 
union here was the informal reception she always 
gave to the boys of Co. G. She died in 1912. 

While at Beverly we had an opportunity to resume 
company drill and to become familiar with the duties 
of a soldier, especially that of camp and picket guard, 
upon which the safety of the camp depends. 

On one occasion I induced the picket guard to let 
me through the line at night without the countersign. 
Next morning I put him under arrest for doing it. 
This was a lesson that was never forgotten. I should 
have been sent in under guard to headquarters by the 
Sergeant. 



CHAPTER 6. 

Advance from Cheat Mountain and our Experience 
With Foreign Adventurers. 

When the spring of 1862 opened, our troops were 
ordered to advance on the Staunton road into the 
Shenandoah Valley, but Company "G" of the 32d 
Ohio was to remain at Beverly until the sick and 
wounded could be removed. 

On April 20th an order came from the colonel to 
bring my company via Grafton on the B. & O. R. R., 
to Martinsburg and report to the regiment on Cedar 
Creek in the Shenandoah Valley. En route I received 
an order to stop off temporarily at New Creek, now 
called Keyser, to protect the railroad, for it was ru- 
mored that the enemy was coming to tear it up at 
that point. Here I was put in charge of a new style 
of battery, consisting of twenty small steel guns of 
one pound caliber for sharp shooting artillery prac- 
tice. Some two weeks afterwards two foreign officers 
appeared and presented an order from General Fre- 
mont, then in command of the Army of the Shenan- 
doah Valley, appointing them captain and lieutenant 
respectively in the American Artillery, and directing 
them to proceed to New Creek and take command of 
an infantry company with a battery of artillery which 

(31) 



^2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

they would find there. The captain then produced an 
order directing me to turn over my company to Cap- 
tain Von Otto by order of Major General Fremont. 

The captain was very gracious and told me he be- 
longed to the Austrian nobility and was an artillery 
officer on temporary leave of absence. His order 
gave him authority to draw on the post quarter- 
master for horses to take the company and battery to 
General Fremont's headquarters at Cedar Creek. 

This whole proceeding seemed to me arbitrary and 
I felt that General Fremont was not warranted 
in depriving me of my command without a cause 
and taking my company from the regiment to 
which it belonged without the knowledge of the 
colonel under whose order I was acting, simply to 
accommodate some foreign adventurers ; but as I was 
anxious to reach Cedar Creek and read a copy of the 
order to the company and put them under the orders 
of Captain Von Otto. General Fremont was better 
known in Europe at that time than any man in our 
army, having once been a candidate for the Pres- 
idency. He became surrounded by a lot of idle ad- 
venturers known as "Soldiers of Fortune", who 
rushed over here to assist us in our domestic troubles 
of which they knew little and cared less. They came 
to instruct us in the science of war, by which they 
hoped to reap some glory and a comfortable share of 
American gold. 

One of them came to our camp in West Virginia 
the year before, when General Fremont was com- 



ADVANCE FROM CHEAT MOUNTAIN. 33 

manding that department. He claimed to be a major 
from some European army and had an authority from 
Fremont to be placed in command of scouting parties 
in search of the enemy, and ''bring on a fight," the 
''bloodier the better," and "get his name up" as he said. 
But he was not given a chance and soon disappeared. 

I was therefore not favorably impressed with 
Captain Von Otto and his Lieutenant, nor with the 
prospective value of the services and military instruc- 
tion that Austria was about to furnish through the 
services of these men. Their manner and imperfect 
English when they undertook to instruct the com- 
pany made their efforts seem ridiculous and the men 
would laugh at their mistakes. This would cause 
them to lose their temper and storm and swear until 
the drill became a farce. The arrogant way in which 
they treated the men destroyed respect. 

As the captain was tall and slim he was referred 
to as "Tongs," while the lieutenant who was short 
and thick was known as "Tubs." "Tongs" and 
"Tubs" were the names by which they were known 
with the company, and this, the boys said was "the 
long and short of it." 

Their idea of the relations maintained among of- 
ficers was good enough, but their manner toward the 
enlisted men was overbearing and generally objec- 
tionable and not calculated to secure discipline nor re- 
spect from American volunteers. 

One hot day, for example, the captain dismounted 



34 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

with polite ceremony to talk to me, but with an over- 
done imperiousness he called to a soldier near by, 
''Here, fellow, hold my horse." The boy, I may men- 
tion, had been one of my school pupils and was one 
of my best soldiers. He is now the Honorable 
Charles W. Black, a prominent citizen of Iowa and 
late member of the state legislature. He obeyed 
promptly, but the flies were troublesome, and the 
horse with a sudden turn switched the captain slightly 
with his tail. Thereupon he became furious, cursed 
the boy and drew his sword as if to strike him. Of 
course I stopped him, saying that would not do in the 
American Army. Turning to me he was prompt to 
apologize. "Oh, don't apologize to me," said I, 
"speak to the boy". But this suggestion was quite 
foreign to his ideas of army discipline. The familiar 
relations between American officers and volunteer 
soldiers disgusted him, while his assumed superiority 
over the men disgusted them, and efficient coopera- 
tion was impossible. I felt sure that in this whole 
affair General Fremont had transcended his authority, 
that the President would not knowingly permit it, and 
I determined to make the issue before the war de- 
partment in Washington. 

About the middle of June, Captain Von Otto re- 
ceived an order to report with his new command to 
General Fremont near Cedar Creek and transporta- 
tion was provided. The company's rifles had been 
boxed and I ordered Lieutenant Westbrook to have 
them put in a car. On arriving at Martinsburg, in- 




Chas. W. Black. VVm. Spencer. Volney Selser. 



ADVANCE FROM CHEAT MOUNTAIN. 35 

Stead of turning them in to the post-quartermaster as 
Captain Von Otto had suggested, Lieutenant West- 
brook placed our rifles in the wagons. After three 
days march we arrived at Cedar Creek. The battery 
was placed in camp; I then reported to Lieutenant 
Colonel Sweeney, commanding the 32d O. V. L then 
at Cedar Creek. The colonel was a West Point man 
but his poor health had interfered with his field ser- 
vice. When I explained how I had been relieved and 
my company given to a foreigner he was indignant 
and said, "I have had no notice of this nor that your 
company has been detached from my command, and 
I order you to report with your men to your place in 
the regiment." 



CHAPTER 7. 

Arrested by Order of General Fremont. — Win- 
chester and Harper's Ferry. — First Battalion, 
Ninth Ohio Cavalry. 

This I did, and as I expected, General Fremont 
had the company ordered back to Captain Von Otto 
and issued an order placing me in arrest. I was given 
three days in which to prepare for trial for dis- 
obedience of orders. Colonel Sweeney took me to the 
headquarters of our brigade commander. General J. 
Saunders Piatt, where we met the general and his 
adjutant. Colonel Don Piatt, the well known writer 
and war correspondent. To both of them I gave a 
detailed statement of what had occurred. They be- 
came deeply interested and sent to General Fremont's 
headquarters for a copy of the order depriving me of 
my command and giving it to Captain Von Otto. 

A feeling existed throughout the army that the 
foreign element was having too much influence with 
Fremont. The pompous and ceremonial style of 
most of these adventurers was more in keeping with 
that of a foreign court than of an American camp. 
Our officers were becoming sick of it, and often when 
returning from business interviews at headquarters 
they could be heard repeating that wicked formula, 
"Damn the Dutch." Much interest was aroused when 

(36) 



ARRESTED BY GENERAL FREMONT, ETf. yj 

my case became known and it was intimated that per- 
haps the General might do well to look after his own 
affairs. 

I received plenty of assistance in preparing my de- 
fence. On the morning of the day set for the trial we 
noticed the General's splendid escort of loo men 
standing by their horses in line in front of head- 
quarters. A negro in charge of his magnificent white 
horse stood at the head of the line. Soon General 
Fremont appeared in full uniform with sword buckled 
by his side. At a given signal the bugler sounded the 
call to mount. All as one man sprang into saddles, 
and as the bugle sounded, "Fours right into column, 
March", they followed their leader at a gallop. And 
thus the flag of the General passed over the hill to- 
ward Washington and was seen in the valley no more, 
for the President had relieved him of his command. 
Fremont was too radical for the times and lacked the 
patience of Lincoln. 

My friends and I went back to headquarters. Gen- 
eral Schenck of Ohio, the ranking general, had al- 
ready been placed in command. At the proper time I 
reported for trial. He asked what the case was. 
When I told him, he looked at the entry docket, and 
told me the case was dismissed and that I was to 
resume the command of my company in the regiment. 

The next day being the 4th of July, our brigade 
celebrated by reading the Declaration of Independence 
on the field where, later on, the defeat of an army was 
to be turned into victory by the arrival of a single 



38 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

man, as immortalized in Read's poem, "Sheridan's 
Ride." 

The following day the entire brigade proceeded 
under orders to Winchester. Although this town was 
less than ''twenty miles away" that march was the most 
fatiguing that I ever endured. The sun was like 
a furnace in blast. The limestone road was nearly an 
inch deep in dust; and this, stirred up by the tramp 
of four thousand men, filled the air so that it was 
distressing either to breathe or to see. The 
springs along the way were entirely insufficient, and 
our thirst became almost unendurable. We reached 
Winchester that night with many of the men in am- 
bulances. 

After a few days' rest we began building fortifi- 
cations on the hills behind the town. These were 
afterwards captured and retaken many times during 
the course of the war by the opposing forces. The 
brigade, under command of General Saunders Piatt, 
was engaged in this work for about a month. 

On the 15th of July some of the boys of Company 
"G", imposing on the leniency and good nature of 
Lieutenant W^estbrook, who was officer of the guard, 
that day, persuaded him to permit them, against orders, 
to go through the lines on a private foraging expedi- 
tion, their object being to capture some choice honey 
they knew of in the vicinity. They got the honey, one 
man carrying the hive and the other two beating off 
the bees as they came out of the box, but on the way 
back they were fired upon by a party of rebel scouts. 




Capt, Warner Mills. 



ARRESTED BY GENERAL FREMONT, ETC. 39 

They all ran but Nelson Croft who was carrying the 
hive, stumbled and fell. The other two, supposing 
he was killed, hurried into camp aand so reported. A 
searching party was sent out from headquarters, but 
no trace of the missing man could be found. There 
was no help for the poor lieutenant. Here was a 
clear violation of a well known military law with dis- 
astrous consequences. He begged me to intercede 
for him but I could not help him and he was dis- 
missed from the service. The health of my First 
Lieutenant was such that he had been of little ser- 
vice to the company and had resigned at my sugges- 
tion. Westbrook had taken his place, and Sergeant 
Guthrie became first, and Sergeant Mills, second lieu- 
tenant. Company "F" of our regiment at its own 
request was taken from the regiment and given a 
battery. 

I was asked by Colonel Ford if I could secure an- 
other company in old Muskingum County as good as 
the one I had. I told him I thought I could as quite 
a number of the boys in my company had friends at 
home who had written asking if places could be 
found for them. It was thought that Winchester 
could now be held. General Milroy, who commanded 
at the battle of Camp Alleghany and who was now 
in command at Winchester, approved of the plan and 
I was detailed on recruiting service with authority to 
select three enlisted men to assist me. I named Ser- 
geant William Sims, Arthur T. Hamilton of Com- 
pany "G" and Thomas Cochran of Company "B" and 



40 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

we proceeded at once to Columbus and secured 
recruiting commissions from Governor Tod. In less 
than three weeks we had 53 men. By this time Stone- 
wall Jackson had driven the Union forces out of 
Winchester into Harper's Ferry and captured with- 
out a fight about 11,000 men, including our regiment 
and my company — the most humiliating affair of the 
war! 

Lieutenant Guthrie was so affected by the humilia- 
tion that he shed tears like a child, and his chagrin 
was increased when he found in one of the Louisiana 
regiments, a number of men of the New Orleans com- 
pany to which he had belonged. 

I reported to Governor Tod that I could not con- 
tinue to recruit for a paroled regiment and asked for 
other orders. He said to remain, nominally at least, 
on recruiting service and if anything occurred by 
which he could use me he would call for me. In 
about two wrecks he sent for me and said he had a call 
from Washington for two regiments of cavalry. 

"I will select two camps, one in Cleveland, the 
other in Zanesville," he said. "I will give you the 
organization of the 9th Regiment with headquarters 
at Zanesville. An order will be issued that the drafted 
men who will go as volunteers will have the privilege 
of selecting their commands; otherwise they will be 
assigned to the regiment having the most need of 
them. The best men who have been drafted will go 
as volunteers and will prefer to ride. This will give 
you an advantage, and with the volunteers you will 



ARRESTED BY GENERAL FREMONT, ETC. 4I 

be able to enlist throughout the country, will secure 
material to make a first-class regiment." 

I thanked the governor but said that these men 
were recruited for the 32d O. V. Infantry where they 
already had a large number of friends, and as they 
were not as yet mustered in they might refuse to go. 
''Not very likely," replied the governor, *'as all boys 
like to ride horseback." "Besides," I said, "I know 
very little about the cavalry service, and have a poor 
opinion of it from what I have seen." "You know a 
horse when you see one?" he asked with a twinkle in 
his eye." "I was brought up on a farm," I said. 
"That is about as much as any of them can say," he 
replied. 

This order from the governor explains how I be- 
came a cavalryman. I was censured at the time by 
boys of the 32d O. V. I. and their friends at home 
for leaving the regiment, but afterwards when they 
had learned how little a soldier in the service has to 
do with his own disposal, any feeling that they may 
have had was forgotten. And by the time the war 
closed the company was better and more efficiently 
officered under Captain Mills than when I was taken 
from it. I am glad to say that my name is still borne 
upon its muster roll and called at the annual reunion 
of the survivors as Captain Hamilton to which I am 
proud to answer whenever I can. 

On October ist, 1862, "Camp Zanesville" was 
opened to receive the drafted men. Recruiting of- 
ficers from regiments in the field arrived to secure 



42 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

men to fill vacancies in their respective commands. 
The Governor issued, as I recommended from time 
to time, commissions for recruiting the Ninth Ohio 
Volunteer Cavalry. Skeletons of the different com- 
panies were made up, and recruiting was prosecuted 
vigorously. 

The Tenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was assigned 
to Captain Smith of the regular army, to be recruited 
at Cleveland. 

On November ist I received an order from Ad- 
jutant General Hill to report the number of recruits 
I had in camp. This I interpreted literally, under- 
standing it not to include the fifty-three infantry 
volunteers and a number of new recruits living in the 
county, to whom I had given leave to visit their homes 
until called for. I reported six hundred and forty 
men, embraced in seven companies, which I had or- 
ganized. I then received an order to send three of 
my companies, "A", "B" and *'C" to report to Cap- 
tain Smith of the Tenth O. V. C at Cleveland. This 
singular and unexpected order was explained by the 
fact that Governor Tod had received a *'Hurry" call 
from Washington for a regiment of cavalry, and as 
Captain Smith had reported seven hundred recruits, 
he could, with the three companies from me, take the 
field before I could. 

This is the only instance during the war in which 
I felt that I had not received fair play from the Gov- 
ernment. The Tenth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was 
now completed and fully organized which enabled Cap- 



ARRESTED BY GENERAL FREMONT, ETC. 43 

tain Smith to be mustered as a Colonel of Cavalry and 
remain on detached duty at Washington while his 
regiment served through the war under command of 
Lt. Colonel Sanderson. 

My new companies, as '*A", "B", **C", and ''D" 
were organized as the First Battalion of the Ninth 
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, the first named company 
being composed of Muskingum County men, including 
the fifty-three originally recruited for the Thirty- 
second Infantry. 

On November 15th I was ordered to Camp Denni- 
son, and on the 19th of November the battalion was 
mustered and commissions were issued as follows: 

W. D. Hamilton, Major, Age 30. 

Co. A. Age. Co. C. Age. 

Wm. Sims, Captain.... 31 E. Hogue, Captain 38 

John W. McCumber, 1st Wm. Winnett, 1st. Lieut. 25 

Lieut 35 John Stuart, 2nd. Lieut. 44 

Thomas Cochran, 2nd. 
Lieut 26 

Co. B. Age. Co. D. Age. 

John Williamson, Captain 36 E. Hoagland, Captain.. 48 

James B. Daniels, 1st. S. Hill, 1st. Lieut 36 

Lieut 36 A. T. Hamilton, 2nd. 

R. D. Mason, 2nd. Lieut 27 Lieut 20 

We received our horses and full cavalry equip- 
ment with blankets and clothing for the men, and the 
ensuing four months were devoted to drilling horses 
and men, as well as officers, in the line of their duty. 



CHAPTER 8. 

The Knights of the Golden Circle. — Service in 
East Kentucky. — East Tennessee Scout. 

While recruiting at Zanesville, a young man about 
my own age, whom I knew slightly, called on me, 
saying he had concluded to enter the service, and 
thought that he would like to join my command. I 
was a little surprised, and felt somewhat compli- 
mented, he was above the average in intelligence 
and ambition. He had been something of a politician 
and a disciple of Vallandigham, whose influence in 
opposition to the war had made the draft necessary 
in Ohio. 

Among my recruits were a number of drafted 
men who had become volunteers for the privilege of 
choosing the regiment in which they should serve. I 
told this young man that I would be glad to have him 
with me, that while he would have to come as a 
private, I would see that his worth was properly 
recognized. He said that was all he wanted, and so 
I took his name. Later on I appointed him acting 
quartermaster sergeant, and he proved energetic in 
supplying the men with proper clothing to protect 
them during the extremely cold weather of the Jan- 
uary that followed. 

(44) 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, ETC. 45 

One morning the assistant I had given him came 
to my quarters and handed me an unfinished letter, 
the substance of which was as follows : 

"Dear Jake : 

I have been here now about two months, and have made 
the friendly acquaintance of most of the men of this com- 
mand. Many of them were drafted. They don't like the drill 
nor their officers, and complain that they can hardly keep 
from freezing. I feel sure that when I get the word, I can 
bring with me more than half the men fully armed." 

When we remember the secret intrigues of the 
agents of the confederacy in Canada about this time 
to liberate the rebel prisoners confined at Johnson's 
Island and elsewhere, the significance of this paper 
can be realized. 

I asked the soldier who brought the letter to ex- 
plain it. He said that the sergeant was writing at his 
desk when one of the boys came to get a blanket. 
The sergeant hastily crumpled up the sheet he was 
writing on and threw it in the stove as he went to get 
the blanket. 

'T had just put some fresh coal in the stove", he 
said, "and so got it out before it took fire." 

"Why did you do that?" I inquired. 

"Well," said he, "I don't understand the sergeant. 
He does a good deal of writing that he is very care- 
ful about it and seems to have secret talks with some 
of the men." 

"Do you know of any dissatisfaction among the 
men?" I asked. 



46 ■ RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

"No," he replied, "except that some of them com- 
plain that the barracks are cold." 

"Do they complain of their officers?" 

"I never heard any complaints". 

I thanked him for the paper, and told him to say 
nothing about it. Next day I happened to meet the 
sergeant near my office and invited him in. We 
talked for a while casually about Zanesville acquaint- 
ances, and presently I mentioned one, Jake Parkison, 
a recently defeated candidate for sheriff on the Dem- 
ocratic ticket, asking: 

"Have you heard from Jake Parkison lately?" 

He flushed and seemed ill at ease, but replied, 

"No, I don't know much about Jake." 

"Don't you ever write to him?" said I. 

"No." 

"Isn't this your writing?" 

He stared and was silent. 

"You know your own writing and so do I, and I 
take it that you are writing to Jake Parkison. Now, 
explain it," said I. 

"Oh, Major," he floundered, "I didn't mean any- 
thing. It was cold and I hadn't anything to do and 
just scribbled without any purpose." 

"It was a surprise to me when you proposed to 
join my command", said I. "I understand it now. 
It has been known for some time that there is an 
organization in the North whose purpose is to thwart 
the efforts of the government to put down this re- 
bellion. Your friend Jake is at the head of it in 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, ETC. 47 

Muskingum County and you joined my command for 
the purpose of co-operating with him. Now, I place 
you under arrest, and will file a charge of treason 
against you." 

The wretched man was overwhelmed. He fell on 
his knees and implored me for the sake of his wife 
and his child, and for God's sake, not to do so. I 
sent for his captain and directed that the accused be 
held in the camp guard house until further orders. 
With my permission he sent for his father, an igno- 
rant but honest well-to-do German farmer, who at 
first did not seem to appreciate the seriousness of his 
son's offense. But when he learned the punishment 
for treason his terror and anguish were great. 

"Oh, my God, my God", he exclaimed. "You 
won't have him hanged. He is my only son." 

He went on to say that he had worked hard for 
this boy, and he had two good farms he intended to 
leave the young man, but that he would give me one 
of them if I would let him go free. I told him not to 
say that, but assured him his son should have a fair 
trial, but that I could do nothing more nor less. 

The young man was turned over with a report of 
the facts in the case to the provost marshal in Cin- 
cinnati, where he remained in jail while we were at 
the front too busy with the enemy to give him any 
attention. 

In the meantime the deep laid plans of the agents 
of the confederacy and the "Knights of the Golden 
Circle" to liberate and arm the Johnson's Island 



48 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

prisoners were frustrated by the capture of the con- 
spirators who had quietly taken control of a revenue 
cutter, and steamed into Sandusky Harbor, and who 
were as quietly arrested by the secret service officers 
just as they had risen from the banquet tables to drink 
to the success of their enterprise. Their whole scheme 
thus proved a failure; they were made prisoners and 
the leader was hanged. 

Our sergeant was finally discharged from prison 
and sent to join his command after the taking of 
Savannah. I sent him to his company, but none of his 
old companions would bunk or mess with him, and 
during our march through the Carolinas, he was cap- 
tured while foraging, and we saw nothing more of 
him during the war. 

An account of this incident was published in the 
Zanesville Courier at the time, and shortly afterward 
Parkison concluded that he could find more con- 
genial company in the South. He was mistaken in 
the character of the southern people, and disap- 
pointed in the reception which his story earned him, 
he never returned to Ohio, and died in Tennessee. 

On April 12th I received an order to report with 
my command to General Wilcox commanding the De- 
partment of Eastern Kentucky, at Lexington. 

We crossed the Ohio river at Cincinnati, and on 
the evening of the 15th went into camp a few miles 
beyond Georgetown, in a field where the blue grass 
was about eight inches high. We picketed our horses 
so that they could eat what grass they wanted, though 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, ETC. 49 

we carried corn with us. While our own suppers 
were being prepared, a man with a broad rimmed, 
soft, white hat came galloping up from a fine country- 
house in the vicinity and called out : 

"Where is the boss of this here caravan?" 

When I was pointed out to him, he dashed up and 
haughtily repeated his inquiry. 

"I am the man you are looking for," I replied. 

''Well, sir," he continued, "I am Dick Osborne, 
Sah. This is my land, Sah; two thousand acres, and 
I want to know by what authority you break into my 
field in this mannah and take possession of it without 
my permission, Sah. I presume you are Yankees from 
the North. Mr. Morgan and his men have visited me 
and have shown themselves to be gentlemen. We 
southern men are gentlemen, Sah, an' expect to be 
treated as gentlemen." 

'Well, Sir," said I, "we are gentlemen from the 
North, and we are here by authority of the United 
States government. We are instructed to procure 
from the region through which we pass such provision 
for our horses as is needed. In the morning I shall 
call at your residence and give you a voucher for 
what I have taken, which will be paid by the govern- 
ment when you prove your loyalty, but I suggest that 
your friendship for Mr. Morgan will not help you 
any." 

Our visitor became quite affable before he bade 
us good night, even inviting me to come and spend 

4 



50 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the night at his house, which, of course, I declined 
to do. 

When we reached Lexington I reported to Gen- 
eral Wilcox, and received orders to proceed to Clay 
County to protect the Unionists of Eastern Kentucky ; 
to consult freely with the Honorable John C. White, 
a Union member of the Kentucky legislature, to 
watch the movements of the enemy at Cumberland 
Gap to prevent work at the salt works, and to guard 
against disturbance in that locality. 

While stationed at London, Kentucky, two men 
of Company "C" deserted in the night. They were 
drafted men between thirty and forty years of age, 
"Vallandigham Democrats", and had no heart in the 
war. I sent four horsemen in pursuit, who overtook 
them about eighteen miles from camp, on the road 
to Ohio. I explained to them how desertion was re- 
garded in military law; how it was visited with the 
severest punishment, even death; and then directed 
their captains to place them in the guard house, and 
have them "bucked and gagged" as provided in the 
regulations, for two hours a day until further orders. 

This disgraceful punishment was inflicted by seat- 
ing the culprits on the floor, and placing a two foot 
stick under the bend of knees, and over the bend of 
his arms, his hands being tied together firmly. 
Another stick about eight inches long was placed 
across his open mouth, and fastened with cords be- 
hind his neck. So the man remained "bucked and 
gagged." 



KNIGHTS OF THE GOLDEN CIRCLE, ETC. 51 

In the afternoon I went out to the guard house 
and saw these two men sitting on the floor in that 
condition, and I then concluded that for a serious 
violation of military law a man might be shot, but I 
would never again subject an American soldier to a 
humiliation like this. Yet, strange to say, it was not 
infrequently resorted to in our volunteer army. 

Accordingly I sent for the captain and changed the 
punishment, ordering that fifty pounds of broken 
stones be put into grain sacks, that one should be 
fastened on the back of each man, and that they 
should thus be marched over the parade ground for 
two hours a day for two weeks; and the case was 
explained in an order published to the command. 

These were the only desertions I had during the 
war, and the most severe punishment I ever inflicted 
for anything. 

I had been given as a scout and guide a Tennes- 
seean by the name of Fullington. He was a deputy 
sheriff of Claiborne County and a member of the First 
Tennessee (loyal) Infantry, — a typical mountaineer, 
with an inveterate hatred of the "rebels." 

One evening the pickets brought in a prisoner in 
citizens' clothes, who had been caught slipping around 
inside of our lines. I questioned him in the presence 
of Fullington. He was a simple-minded mountaineer 
about twenty-five years old. He admitted that he be- 
longed to a rebel regiment, and said his colonel had 
told him that if he would find out how many men we 



52 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

had and what we were doing, he would give him a 
thirty day furlough to go home. 

"Do you know what a spy is?" I asked, "and 
what his punishment is if caught?" 

He said that he did not. I told him that the laws 
of war require that he be hanged, "and," said I, "you 
have been caught trying to enter our line as a spy." 

Fullington was becoming interested. The prisoner 
looked up in a dazed surprise and asked : 

"Are you going to hang me?" 

Fullington's eyes glittered with an odd brightness 
as he watched me. I replied, "I have not determined 
what to do, but if I decide to hang you, it will be at 
six o'clock tomorrow morning." 

Fullington's expression was jubilant. The pris- 
oner looked about him in sorrowful half-comprehen- 
sion, then with a long drawn sigh, asked : 

"Would you let me write a letter ?" 

"To whom do you want to write?" 

"My wife," he said. 

"Have you any children?" 

"Yes, two." 

"Well, you may write, but I must see the letter." 

I gave him pencil and paper and sent him under 
guard to an old log school house within the camp. 
Fullington came forward with a look of satisfaction 
and said: "I'd like you to put that fellow in my 
charge." The letter he wrote was a mere pitiful 
scrawl, bidding his wife good bye, with a kiss for the 
babies, and the hope that he would not be forgotten. 



KNlCiUTS OF TJIE GOLDliN CIRCLE, ETC. 53 

The next morning some wagons were to go back to 
Lexington for supplies, and I sent the prisoner with 
a note to headquarters, very much to the disappoint- 
ment of Fullington, \vho, after watching the wagons 
as they started off, came to my tent and sat down with 
the famiHar manner of equaHty which all mountain 
people carry, and began sadly : 

"Well, I don't understand you Northerners at all. 
It looks like you don't know what war is. We think 
war means killin'. Ef you had a let me have thet 
chap, I'd ha saved you all this bother. We had some 
schoolin' down here afore you'ns come down to help 
us. You may think I hain' got any feelins, and 
neither have I fer that breed o' cattle. We had some 
experience in Tennessee afore we seen any soldier 
f'm the North. Ol' Harris sent his militia up to the 
mountains to press us into his damned rebel army. 
They wuz too many fer us, an' we had to leave our 
homes and make pens in the woods to sleep in o' 
nights. Our cabins wuz w^atched, 'n' our families 
abused. We had some bloody fights when we met, 
en' I can say my rifle done its share. But I had to 
leave, en' I went to camp Dick Robinson and jined 
the Union army. 

'*On th' night I left, a rebel gang come to my 
cabin door en' as't my wife whur I wuz. She tole 
'em she didn't know — which wuz true. They tole 
'er, hit wuz a damn lie, thet I hed been seen thet 
evenin', en' ef she didn't tell whur I wuz, they's a 
gion' tuh burn down the damn house. She wouldn't 



54 RECOLLECTIO^iS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

tell, and they up en' burnt hit down; 'en hit was 
twelve o'clock at night, en' the snow was four inches 
deep on the mountain. En' with half drunk yells en' 
curses they left her a standin' by our burnin' cabin, 
with six little children, one o' 'em six months ol', an- 
other, two ye'rs, and all o' 'em in thin cloze, a havin' 
to find the neardest neighbor's cabin three miles away 
through the woods. That night's tramp killed my 
wife, and two o' my children. You may think I'm 
wicked in my bitterness, — well — mebby, but hit's 
the religion o' my life t' meet them damned scoundrels 
in a battle er single handed, I don' care which, en' get 
a chanst t' give 'em a bloody pass t' th' hell where they 
belong in, wherever that is ! 

"You people f'm the North don' seem to have no 
feelin' in this war; but then you got no personal ac- 
counts to settle. But hit's different 'ith us in the 
mountains, en' we're a hopin' the war wont let up till 
we c'n git some little satisfaction fer whut's ben done 
tuh us." 

Whether or not poor FuUington ever got his meas- 
ure of satisfaction, I do not know, for he was with 
us but a short time.* 



*I have learned with regret that in one of these bitter 
Mountain broils since the war that brave Fullington was 
killed. 



CHAPTER 9. 
Raid on Big Creek Gap. — The Morgan Fox Chase. 

In June 1863, it became necessary to open railroad 
communications between Chattanooga and the East 
by way of Knoxville, which at that time was held by 
the enemy. General Saunders of Kentucky was di- 
rected to organize a cavalry force, and make recon- 
noisance around that important city to learn some- 
thing of the strength of the enemy and the defence 
of the place. This force included my battalion of the 
Ninth Ohio Cavalry then in camp at London, Ken- 
tucky, and the Forty-fourth Ohio Mounted Infantry 
under Colonel Sam Gilbert, a personal friend and very 
able officer, whose son, Cass Gilbert, is the well-known 
architect of New York City. Colonel Gilbert was or- 
dered to cross the Cumberland River at Williamsburg, 
make a detour to the left, cross Pine Mountain Gap, to 
the east and make a feint on Big Creek Gap, East 
Tennessee, where a force of the enemy was stationed. 
The object of this detour was to attract the enemy's 
attention, and to keep them from disturbing General 
Saunders in his effort to get around Knoxville. 

Colonel Gilbert directed me to move by way of 
Pine Mountain Gap while he crossed by another 
route. The gap was known to be held by the enemy, 

(55) 



56 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

and when I reached a farm house at the foot of the 
mountain at about ten o'clock, as had been designated, 
we concluded that this force was a pretty strong one, 
judging by the size of the parties sent down to the 
farm house for forage. 

I dismounted the battalion in the shade of an 
orchard and had our horses fed. Then with the ad- 
vance guard, consisting of fifty men, I quit the main 
road and led them up by a cow path, leaving our 
horses to rest half way up the mountain with a guard. 
I gave twenty-five men to Sergeant John Axline and 
instructed him to make his way quietly around the 
side of the mountain in the woods above the gap, 
while I with the remainder followed the cow path to 
its intersection with the road below. 

The leaves were thick on the trees, and we moved 
in single file, reaching the road about two hundred 
yards below the station in the gap. Here four men 
leading their horses up the mountain, came around a 
bend of the road within fifty yards of us. They had 
been down firing on our pickets. I stepped into the 
road above them and behind cocked pistol called on 
them to halt. My men hurried forward, cocking their 
guns as they ran; the horsemen cried out, "Don't 
shoot, we surrender." I told them to come quickly. I 
was anxious to add them to our party as I saw men 
on the rocks above trying to get a shot at us. 

Sergeant Axline with his men had got above the 
road as directed, but was discovered in the woods by 
the cracking of a stick, and, in the belief tliat they 



RAID ON BIG CREEK GAP. 57 

were being surrounded, the entire command of the 
enemy fled down the mountain on the other side, and 
so left the gap open for us. 

Our four prisoners were armed with double bar- 
reled shot guns loaded with ball. They were sur- 
prised at the good treatment we gave them. They 
took the oath not to fight against the "Yanks", 'for 
they hadn't known they were such nice people.' The 
young lieutenant told me it was his twenty-first birth- 
day. He rode a fine horse which he offered to present 
me. I thanked him, but said that the horse now be- 
longed to the United States Government, but that 
after turning him in to the quartermaster, I would 
have him appraised and buy him back; and this I 
did later on, paying forty dollars. His gun was a 
double barreled German fowling piece, and as it was 
of no use to the government, I sent it home as a pres- 
ent to a friend; and it is the only piece of southern 
property I ever appropriated. 

I ordered the command up from the orchard and 
passed through the gap. We went into camp on the 
other side, where Colonel Gilbert and his command 
joined us. In the morning the colonel said that my 
command was entitled to the advance, and we formed 
in the usual marching order with an advance guard, 
following the extreme vidette. The enemy was not 
far away. Here Fullington was in his glory. I rode 
forward to ask him about the road. He heard me 
coming and looked back. He was a picturesque 
figure — tall and slim, and rode with short stirrups 



58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

which enabled him to rise in his saddle and look about 
to good advantage. His carbine was cocked and rested 
on his thigh in readiness. When he saw me coming, he 
sang out, '*Go back, Major, go back. The damn scoun- 
drels are not far ahead, and the fun'U begin in a min- 
ute, and you'll be needed back there with the men." 
I learned what I wanted to know, and waited until 
the head of the column came up. In a few minutes 
we heard firing ahead, and I ordered the first com- 
pany forward in a gallop. When we came up I 
found Fullington's horse standing in the road, and 
he was up on the side of the mountain in the timber. 
I heard a shout from the enemy ahead: "There's ol' 
Fullington, God d — n his soul," to which the response 
was given "Come out from behind that tree, you 
d - - n cowards." Then turning to me he exclaimed, 
"Major, dismount half your men en' put 'em up both 
sides on the mountain, an' we'll give 'em the devil for 
shore." I thought of Washington's counsel to Brad- 
dock, and followed the suggestion. In this style we 
pushed forward under Colonel Gilbert's command 
and drove the enemy before us, in spite of the fire of 
a field piece which they opened on us whenever op- 
portunity permitted, until night came and we reached 
the brow of the hill that overlooked their camp at 
Big Creek Gap. Here we went into camp for the 
night, building fires enough, in full view of the troops 
at the gap, to cook supper for a force of twice the 
size we had. 



RAID ON BIG CREEK GAP, 59 

In the morning we saw the troops in force in the 
gap, getting ready to resist our attack, so we knew 
they had not gone to bother Saunders at Knoxville. 
We spent the day threatening to make an attack. 
Next day we started back to camp at London, Ken- 
tucky, after a very fatiguing and successful raid, hav- 
ing given General Saunders ample time to make his 
Knoxville trip a success. 

On the long, hot and weary return march, with 
nothing left in my pocket but a piece of raw bacon 
which made me sick to taste, I became too weak to 
ride safely. Our surgeon, Dr. Finch, gave me a drink 
of whiskey and water. This supported me until we 
reached camp. I have always thought it the proper 
treatment under the circumstances, and that it should 
always be provided for by the medical department at 
least. 

After supper and a good night's sleep I was in 
good shape again. 

Next morning we received the cheering news of 
the battle of Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg. 

On the evening of July 5th, we had arrived at our 
camp at London, Kentucky. I received an order to 
report at once to General Carter at Stanford, Ky., 
twenty-five miles distant, and to burn any stores I 
had that would delay my start. Having no wagons, 
we accordingly burned all that could not be carried on 
our horses, including some tents and horse feed. We 
marched all night; and on arriving I was ordered to 
be ready next day to join in the chase after Morgan; 



6o RFXOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

to Open communications with headquarters, and se- 
cure instructions as to my movements by telegraph 
whenever a station could be reached. This I did. 
Other cavalry forces were sent out in different direc- 
tions, and a grand fox chase was begun. 

En route I received an order to make a forced 
march to intercept Morgan at Danville, Kentucky. 
In execution of this order we covered a distance of 
fifty-seven miles in twenty hours, stopping thirty 
minutes about noon by a wheat field, that the horses 
might be fed on the sheaves of wheat, and the men 
on the blackberries which we found in abundance in 
the fence corners along the road, a common sight in 
Kentucky ! 

Morgan was compelled to turn toward the river 
and got over into Ohio where he and his army were 
captured by "Buckeyes" about the twenty-fifth of 
July, 1863. 




Capt. Elijah Hogue, 

Company "C," 9th O. V. C. 

Succeeding Major Wm. Sims, Resigned from Disability. 



CHAPTER 10. 

Knoxville Campaign. 

I was then ordered to report with my command 
to Glasgow, Kentucky, to join the expedition under 
General Burnside in his advance into Tennessee for 
the capture of Knoxville. 

When we reached Green river which in past 
ages had cut an almost perpendicular channel more 
than fifty feet deep and from three hundred 
to four hundred feet wide for miles through 
the shale formation of that region, we found that 
the wagon bridge had been burned and there was no 
possible way of crossing except on a railroad trestle 
which spanned the chasm and upon which boards 
had been laid lengthwise but with no side protection. 
The water was surging more than fifty feet below. 
To attempt to cross this looked as fearful as enter- 
ing into a battle, but there was no help for it. 

I dismounted the command, covered my horse's 
eyes with my handkerchief and led him to the trestle, 
directing the men to follow, keeping close up in single 
file. 

The horses were tired enough to move quietly and 
the mule teams followed. All went well until the last 
six-mule team had nearly reached the other side. 

(61) 



62 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

when one of the mules stumbled and fell off the 
bridge, pulling the mule in front ofif with him. 
Both were stripped of their harness as they fell. They 
struck on a bank of sand at the bottom. When I 
reached the place I found the mules badly hurt in- 
ternally and unable to get up. They looked up at 
their driver with an expression in their eyes as if 
pleading for help, and he stood by with tears running 
down his face and sorrowfully repeating, "My poor 
pets, my poor pets." 

The wagon had been brought over by the wheel 
mules, and was taken the rest of the way by the four 
remaining ones. And after the column started the 
wagon master ended the suffering of the fallen mules 
with his pistol. 

In spite of the bad reputation this much abused 
servant has acquired, there are few animals that re- 
spond more kindly to kind treatment. He was our 
standby in the army. 

While at Glasgow, Ky., we received three months' 
pay, which, as usual, I urged the boys to send home, 
that they might have something to begin with when 
the war was over; and some twenty thousand dollars 
in packages addressed to the folks at home were 
brought to me. In company with a number of my 
officers I carried it twelve miles to the Mammoth 
Cave Railroad Station, from which I sent it home by 
express, taking a receipt for each package. 

We then visited Mammoth Cave, which was about 
three miles distant. We found that the nearer we 



KNOXVILLE CAMPAIGN. 63 

approached the cave the less the natives knew about 
it; but we were very much interested in examining 
this wonderful curiosity of nature. 

We returned to Glasgow next day, where I dis- 
tributed the receipts, but one for $200, to Captain 
Daniels of Company ''B" was missing. The follow- 
ing morning I returned to the railroad station and 
hunted in vain for the lost package. It had required 
two hours or more to register and get receipts for 
the three hundred packages, and we could not ac- 
count for the missing one, which had probably been 
stolen by one of the many loafers about the station 
at the time. I reported the loss to Captain Daniels, 
and made it good to him the next pay day. 

While encamped at Glasgow I learned that some 
gambling had been going on. I sent for the parties 
implicated. I found four losers but only one winner. 
He looked like a man who had seen a good deal of 
the world; the losers, like young country boys who 
had seen very little of it. Very few greenbacks were 
found in the crowd. The man of cards said he had 
sent his money home ; the others said they didn't have 
any to send home. In examining the gambler's out- 
fit, however, $200 in gold coin was found. He said 
he found it while foraging. I brought out all the 
facts in the presence of the entire battalion, telling 
them that gamblers could be found in uniform who 
had entered the service not to put down the rebellion, 
but to rob the boys who were trying to do it. I then 
called up the man who had won the money and those 



64 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

who had lost it, and distributed the gold to each of 
the losers in proportion to his loss. I then ordered 
them to send it home, and directed their captain to 
isee that they did it. 

Major General Burnside with his command, about 
10,000 strong, crossed the Kentucky river at "Ji"^" 
town," whose principal claim to notice is that it was 
the birthplace of "Mark Twain". It was also a county 
seat, and had been held by the rebel cavalry, and the 
Court House had been used as their stable. 

The march across the Cumberland Mountains was 
a dreary one. The land is underlaid with coal, but 
the surface is poor and thin. The region was sparsely 
settled, the inhabitants making a meager living out of 
cultivating small clearings scattered here and there 
along the different roads. Word had reached them 
that the "Yankees were coming", and they were in 
a state of happy expectancy. They were too poor to 
be secessionists ! The men had been hiding out to 
keep from being pressed into the rebel ranks ; and the 
cross roads were lined with men, women and children, 
gathered in from miles around to see the Yankee 
troops. As the great, long blue columns of cavalry, 
infantry and artillery came in sight, they became wild 
with excitement and enthusiasm, shouting, and sing- 
ing hymns, and hailing us as their deliverers. The 
old men waved their straw hats, and the women their 
gingham sun-bonnets, with joyful tears of welcome. 
Mothers would come close to the column as we halted 
and ask if we had seen their "Henry", their "Tom", 




Capt. \V. S. WlNNETT, 

Second Captain of Co. "C,"' 9th 
O. V. C. 




Lt. John M. Stewart, Co. "C. 



KNOXVILLE CAMPAIGN. 65 

or their *'Sam", thinking of course we knew them for 
they had *'jined the Yankee Army". Bashful 
daughters of the mountains, barefooted and sun- 
burned, stood apart in groups, and gazed in wonder 
and admiration at the strange and imposing vision of 
the long column of blue-clad horsemen with carbine 
and clanking sabre at their sides. ''La, there they come! 
There they come! Haint they purty!" and "Land 
Sakes, haint the' a sight of 'em!" and "Won't they 
make them Johnnies run!" were their frequent 
exclamations. 

The enemy waited for us in force at Campbell's 
Station, ten miles out from Knoxville, and in a stub- 
bornly fought battle were defeated. Knoxville was 
evacuated, and occupied by General Burnside. My 
friend, Colonel Sam Gilbert of the Forty-fourth 
Mounted Infantry, who was an excellent executive as 
well as a field officer, was appointed Post Com- 
mander, and I was made Provost Marshal. 

The Knoxville Campaign has become American 
history, and it is not necessary to discuss it in this 
personal narrative. 

Will say, however, that here for the first time 
wire fence was used to obstruct a charge against 
artillery, and it is reported that in dredging the river 
thirty years after the bombardment, a twenty 
pound shell was found in the bottom of the river with 
the powder still dry, as the shell exploded on being 
tested in a fire. 



66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

But the result was a great disappointment to many 
of the citizens of Knoxville who confidently expected 
that Longstreet with his 20,000 men would promptly 
re-take the city. Many families busied themselves 
preparing something good for their soldier friends 
who were with that popular southern general; and a 
great deal of fine food and delicacies went to waste 
because they did not come. It will be remembered 
that Longstreet found Fort Saunders in the way, 
and his effort to pass it cost him over a thousand men 
in less than half an hour. 

It is well known that in the beginning the state 
of Tennessee had voted a majority 60,000 strong 
against secession; this came principally from the 
mountain section. The powers in control at Nash- 
ville, however, were not satisfied with the result of 
this vote, and Governor Harris ordered a new elec- 
tion, and called out certain of the state militia in 
order to control it. As a result, the state of Tennessee 
was given to the South. The militia of the diflferent 
states, as it was then constituted, owed their allegiance 
not to the President, but to their respective governors. 

1 was told that a Captain McCall of the state 
troops from one of the eastern counties of Tennessee, 
received an order from Nashville to report with his 
company to the provost marshal at Knoxville, fully 
armed and equipped. On arriving here he reported 
as directed, and was told to take his company out to 
the stockade to guard some prisoners. 

They proceeded accordingly, but soon afterwards 



KNOXVILLE CAMPAIGN. 67 

were seen returning. The company was halted in 
Hne before the provost marshal's office, and Captain 
McCall entered. ''Mr. Provost Marshal," said he, 
"I supposed that I should find a lot of roughs, black- 
legs and outlaws in the stockade. Instead, I find only 
a number of good citizens from my neighboring 
county, and my old friend, Captain Brownlee. Brown- 
lee and I were captains in the same regiment in Mex- 
ico. I saw him lead the Tennesseans under the Stars 
and Stripes up the heights of Chapultepec. He tells 
me that you'ns are tired of that old flag and want a 
new one, and because they don't, you've got them all 
in that pen out there. I'm here, sir, to tell you, they've 
a right to their choice of flags. I've got a hundred 
squirrel hunters from the mountains, fully armed, in 
line right here. Everyone of them can send a bullet 
through the head of a squirrel in the top of a tree, 
and we're going out and pull down your stockade and 
the men in it are going home like we are, and any 
body that don't like it had better keep away." 

With that he returned to the stockade and put his 
words into effect; and both captains with new com- 
panies took their place afterwards under the old Flag 
of the Union. And this is the way the old Scotch- 
Irish blood of the mountains maintained the loyalty 
of East Tennessee. 



CHAPTER II. 
Organization of the Second and Third Battalions. 

On November loth, while in Knoxville, I received 
an order to report to Camp Dennison to take command 
of the other two battaHons which Governor Tod had 
secured for me. I placed the First Battalion in charge 
of Captain Sims, of Company "A", and proceeded by 
way of Cumberland Gap to Camp Dennison to meet 
the officers and men. Here I remained a week and 
then reported to Governor Tod at Columbus to ex- 
press my thanks and receive instructions. He gave 
me a commission of Lieutenant Colonel, dated No- 
vember 19th, 1863, and directed me to return to Camp 
Dennison and open a school of instructions for both 
officers and men. 

Quite a number of both had seen service in the 
infantry. We drilled for a month on foot, and then 
horses were secured and were distributed among 
the companies by color, so that we had three companies 
on black horses ; three on bay ; one, sorrel ; one, gray ; 
and the band of sixteen pieces, on cream colored 
mounts. 

On the 26. of December, 1863, I was commis- 
sioned as Colonel, and the regiment was fully organ- 
ized as the Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry commis- 
sioned as follows: ^ggj 





Chas. H. Pixxey, 

Asst. Surgeon. 



Jos. Daniels, 
Capt. Co. "B." 





Maj. J as. Irvine. 



Lt. Henry A. Morrison, 
Co. "A." 



THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



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Q. M. Sergt. Edw. M. 
Ashley, 



Lt, Max Van Ottanger, 
Co. "K." 





Capt. Thus. Brown, 
Co. "F." 



Capt. Albin Coe, 
Co. "E." 



THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



71 













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72 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 



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THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



73 



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RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 



13 



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July 
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1864. 
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THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



75 



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RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 



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Sergt. Harry L. Spencer, 
Co. B, 9th O. V. C. 

Now residing at Oskaloosa, Iowa, and one of the most suc- 
cessful and prominent business men of the state. 



THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



n 



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78 



RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 



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THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



79 



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. Lieut. 
3, 1864. 
2, 1864. 
Sergeant 
, 1864. 






IJ"^ C_^T3 "CO 1 


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RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 







c 
B 


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Lieut. 
, 1865. 
ergeant 

1864. 
ut. Co. 
64. 






ith c( 

ptain 
186-5. 

2nd. 
ry 10, 
1st. S 
ber 3, 
t. Lie 

3, 18 




out w 

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to Ca 

y 10, 

from 
Februa 

from 
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to Is' 
member 










ustered 
July 20 
romoted 
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romloted 
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THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 



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> 

Q 



82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

I think it proper to concede in this connection that 
in the age of the officers the regiment was certainly 
not a model one according to Napoleon's idea of a 
model army in which the enlisted men should be 
under twenty and the officers under twenty-five years 
of age. But this w^ould require that they be com- 
manded by a field marshal like himself and fighting 
simply for glory, as he was. 

I think, however, that the limit of enlistment by 
draft or otherwise a country with the extensive and 
growing population which we have should be reduced 
to forty years instead of forty-five, and should include 
volunteer officers as well. I was, as shown by our roster, 
the youngest field officer in the regiment and younger 
than any of the captains when we took the field. In 
the 1st Battalion the captain of Company "D" was 
forty-eight years — a minister whom I had known 
from my boyhood and who placed my name on the 
church record when I was sixteen years old. He or- 
ganized a company largely of his own parishioners and 
placed them under my command against my earnest 
advice, as I told him it would be embarrassing to both 
of us. He was very able as a minister, but after a 
year's service in command of a company during 
which he proved his courage beyond a question, he 
realized that he was unable to acquire proficiency in 
the drill. On the organization of the regiment he 
was appointed Chaplain but his health failed and he 
resigned before the war closed. 

The first captain of Company "F" was fifty-eight, 



THE SECOND AND THIRD BATTALIONS. 83 

and the captain of Company ''I" was fifty-nine years, 
both prominent men at home who had organized their 
companies through their influence and offer to take 
the field with their men. What they knew about mil- 
itary tactics was learned under the old militia school 
which was of no value in our war. One of them re- 
mained with his company until near the close of the 
war. He was well liked by his men as he took good 
care of them, but was of little value in the field. The 
other died in a hospital in Nashville July 17, 1864. 

His 2nd Lieutenant, Wm. P. Gardner, was the 
son of Judge Gardner of Toledo. Although but nine- 
teen years old, he seemed born for the army. He 
was a student of military matters, and had the ap- 
pearance and culture of a West Point man. He be- 
came an efficient officer of the company, although his 
manner made him unpopular with the men, until their 
first engagement, when his coolness under fire and 
his success in handling the company changed their 
estimate. Before he entered the service he had been 
at work on an improvement in breech-loading artillery 
about which he had occasionally talked with me. In 
January, 1865, when we all felt the war would soon 
be over, he decided to resign and complete the model 
of his gun and take it for inspection to the War De- 
partment at Washington. He did resign, completed 
his plan and submitted his gun to the War Depart- 
ment which turned it down. But not discouraged, 
he went to London and submitted it to the British 
Admiralty. The gun was accepted and he was em- 



84 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

ployed to superintend its construction. When Gen- 
eral Gordon, known as ''Chinese" Gordon, was sent 
to India to quell the insurrection they armed him 
with the Gardner gun. With it he drove the hosts 
of the enemy before him, took the city of Khartoom 
and held it until the ammunition and supplies were 
exhausted and the city fell. General Gordon was 
murdered two days before the arrival of re-inforce- 
ments. But the value of the Gardner gun was es- 
tabHshed and Mr. Gardner was given a high salary to 
remain in the employ of the government, where, after 
a very successful career, he died a few years ago. 



CHAPTER 12. 

Ordered to the Field. 

On February 6th, 1864, I received an order from 
General Grant at Louisville, directing me to brmg my 
command with full equipment by water to Nashville. 
This included nine covered wagons with six mules 
each, all of which were supplied by the quarter- 
master's department; and in proper order our gay 
fleet of seven river steamers started from the wharf at 
Cincinnati, a large crowd cheering as the band on the 
first boat struck up 'The Star Spangled Banner, 
while the Stars and Stripes were unfurled on the 
flag staff. The steamers wheeled into column behind 
the flag ship, and as I looked upon this naval display 
I felt myself inflating with the rank of a commodore! 
This inspiring start however got a back-set when, 
on reaching Louisville a few hours later, I was 
handed a dispatch from General Grant, directing me 
to disembark my command, and march through Ken- 
tucky to Nashville by a route given. I learned sub- 
sequently that depredations were being committed m 
Kentucky under the belief that the supply of troops 
from the North had been exhausted. We remained 
in Louisville some days, awaiting supplies, and then 
started on the march for Nashville. 

(85) 



86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

We camped the first night near Bardstown, Ken- 
tucky. The next morning, I was accosted by a 
citizen, who informed me that three of my men had 
broken into and robbed his house. He gave me the 
letter on their caps, and they were soon found, the 
stolen property recovered and returned to him. Two 
of the culprits were young boys from a country vil- 
lage; the other, the leader in the escapade was older, 
a hard looking man from about the wharves in Cin- 
cinnati, who had been recruited for the ist Battalion, 
but not yet been mustered into service. That evening I 
directed their captain to bring them to my quarters, 
and a "Drum Head Court Martial" was held. A 
trunk had been broken open with the butt end of a 
carbine, and pillaged. Among the plunder was a 
razor. After we had learned the facts, I called for 
the stolen razor, and had the hair on one side of the 
head of each man cut and shaved from the line of 
the nose to the back of the neck. I told the leader 
that, as we were soldiers not burglars, he could be of 
no value to the regiment except to show the result 
of misconduct. I then took his arms and accoutre- 
ments, gave him a day's rations, and placed him in 
front of the regiment standing in line. Between two 
files of soldiers we marched him down the line in 
front of the drum and fife playing the "Rogues' 
March," and sent him away. This was radical treat- 
ment but I thought by the looks of the man that his 
influence in battle would be as injurious as in camp. 
In the case of the two boys the lesson was effective, 



ORDERED TO THE FIELD. 87 

for they both became good soldiers and conducted 
themselves well thereafter. One of them is now a 
good, industrious and respected citizen of Columbus, 
Ohio, and a warm friend of mine. 

On February 15th, I reported at General Grant's 
headquarters in Nashville, and was assigned a place 
for a camp by Colonel Potter, General Grant's adju- 
tant general, about two miles out of the city on the 
"Granny White Pike", here the command passed a very 
satisfactory inspection. 

While here two of my officers, Captain Gatch and 
Lieutenant Peter F. Swing asked permission to call 
on General Grant, as their company, "L", was from 
Clermont County where Grant was born, and these 
officers were distantly related to him. 

Some time afterward, in telling about their call, 
Captain Gatch said that General Grant talked with 
interest of the old home and old friends, and said he 
was glad they felt it their duty to enter the service, — 
"For the war is far from settled and most of the 
young men of the North will be needed." He then 
asked, "Who is your colonel? What is his military 
experience, and what sort of a man is he?" The 
young officers had learned one lesson on military 
courtesy which was to speak well of their command- 
ing officer ! They told him of my first year as an 
infantry captain, and my second as a major of 
cavalry, and of the discipline maintained in the regi- 
ment, mentioning that neither drinking nor gambling 
was permitted. "Does he drink himself?" the general 



88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

asked, and, "Does he handle cards ?" Upon their an- 
swering in the negative, he went on to say : 'The dis- 
cipline of an army depends not so much on the orders 
issued by its officers as upon the example set by 
them, and especially upon the personal character of 
its colonels and captains, who are principally respon- 
sible for the efficiency of an army. 

One day while in camp some of the boys told me 
that in a house near by were some refugees who were 
sick and starving. I went and found an old man and 
wife with two married daughters, two daughters-in- 
law and eight grand-children. They had traveled on 
foot from one of the mountain counties of East 
Tennessee. The old man said : 

"Our 'men-folks' had to leave home and sleep in 
the woods to keep from being forced into the South- 
ern army; and now they have gone to jine you'ens. 
It wasn't safe for me and the 'women-folks' to stay, 
and we tuck all our truck and victuals and started 
six days ago to come here. When we had nothing 
left to eat some good folks helped us. But some of 
the young'ens tuck sick and we had to leave most of 
our truck and carry 'em. We had nothing to give 'em 
to eat and they grew worse. We got here yesterday 
and went into this empty house, but we've been up 
most of the night with the children." 

A young woman was sitting on a stool in a corner 
of the room beside what appeared to be a bundle of 
old clothes on the floor. She turned them down and 



ORDERED TO THE FIELD. 89 

I saw the wasted form of a little girl — the child was 
dead. 

Another mother showed me her little son lying in 
a corner weak and delirious. All were suffering from 
starvation; but no complaints were made, no tears 
were shed : sorrow had gone beyond the help of tears. 

The old man had been told that if he could get to 
Nashville the Government would take care of them, 
but he did not know where to find the "Government." 

I went back to camp and arranged to have some 
rations and hot coffee taken over, while I found the 
"Government" in the form of the Post Commander; 
and these poor, helpless, starving families were pro- 
vided for while their brave, God-given protectors 
were fighting in our ranks. 



CHAPTER 13. 
Patrol of the Tennessee River. 

We were assigned to the left wing of the Six- 
teenth Army Corps, commanded by General Gran- 
ville M. Dodge, and ordered to Athens, Alabama, to 
patrol the Tennessee river for fifty miles between 
there and the shoals below Florence. It had been re- 
ported that the rebel General Forrest was on the 
other side of the river and would probably make an 
attempt to cross. 

I made out a requisition for the necessary am- 
munition and also for 100 carbines to arm the recruits 
for the First Battalion. This I presented at the ord- 
nance department, but the officer declined to fill the 
requisition, saying: 

"It lacks the approval of the chief of cavalry." 

I replied, "The chief of cavalry, with whom I am 
acquainted, is in Chattanooga for two days but will 
sign it on his return. In the meantime General Rous- 
seau commanding this post will vouch for me until 
the chief of cavalry returns." 

The officer said, "I cannot take any chances," and 
continued with a very superior air, "The papers sent 
in to Washington by the Army of the West, as a rule, 
have been so carelessly prepared that the government 

'90) 



PATROL OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 9I 

has had to employ five hundred extra clerks to over- 
haul and correct them. I have been detailed here to 
bring order out of the confusion, and I will not recog- 
nize any papers that are defective in any way. The 
regulations provide that your requisition shall be 
signed by the chief of cavalry and I will not recognize 
any other authority." 

"How about General Grant?" said I. 

"He is not the chief of cavalry," he said. 

"But," said I, "It has been reported that General 
Forrest is about to cross the Tennessee river and I 
have orders to proceed to Athens, Alabama, to report 
his movements and hold him in check until a suf- 
ficient force is ready to meet him. I can not do this 
without ammunition." 

"You don't have to," he replied. "The regula- 
tions provide that a command must be properly 
equipped before being ordered out, and all you can 
do is to wait for the return of the chief of cavalry." 

I left the office to lay the matter before General 
Grant. I went up to his headquarters in the city, a 
large, old-fashioned private house with two large 
rooms in front and a hall between, and without the 
usual armed guard before the door. I called on 
Colonel Potter, the adjutant general, whom I knew, 
and explained the situation. He said: 

"You must have that ammunition. Do you know 
General Grant?" 

I replied, "I have never seen him." 



()2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

The colonel said, *'He is in the next room; come 
and I will introduce you." 

The general and a citizen were standing at a win- 
dow talking. He wore a common army blouse, with 
no mark of rank that I remember. When I was in- 
troduced he said pleasantly, "Well, Colonel, what can 
I do for you?" I explained the situation and told of 
my unsuccessful interview with the ordnance officer, 
about the ammunition. 

"Where is he from?" asked the general. 

I replied, "He says he's from the Army of the 
Potomac." 

"From the Army of the Potomac, is he? What is 
his name?" 

I replied, "His name is Stoddard." 

"Well, he must be a very correct young man. 
However, you must have the ammunition." 

He took up a pen and paper and wrote a note 
which he told me to hand to Captain Stoddard. He 
asked if there was anything else I wanted. I then 
told him I had just arrived with two battalions of 
cavalry recently organized in Ohio, that my First 
Battalion, with which I had been in General Burn- 
side's campaign, was in Knoxville. "Their horses 
were used up," I said, "and they are doing guard 
duty dismounted. "I have tried to have them relieved 
to join the other battalions at Athens, but the com- 
manding officer at Knoxville declines to give them 
up. I have a hundred men with me recruited to fill 
that depleted battalion. I would like to have the 



PATROL OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 93 

three battalions united, and an order on the Post 
Quartermaster for horses and the necessary equip- 
ment to prepare the First Battalion for duty with the 
other two." The general immediately turned and 
rang a bell, and Colonel Potter came in. ''Colonel, 
wire General Foster at Knoxville to turn over the 
First Battalion of the Ninth Ohio Cavalry, now under 
his command, to Colonel Hamilton when he arrives, 
and see that transportation is furnished them to 
Athens, Alabama; also instruct the quartermaster 
here to furnish horses and equipment for the First 
Battalion." Then turning to me, he asked, 'Ts there 
anything else needed?" I told him there was not, 
thanked him and took my leave. The slip of paper he 
had given me, read : 

"Captain Stoddard, 

Ordnance Department. 

You will honor Colonel Hamilton's requisition or I must 

find some one that will. __ ^ ^ 

U. S. Grant, 

Major General Commanding." 

Upon receipt of this, Captain Stoddard ordered 
the requisition filled without further controversy. 

I was very much impressed with General Grant, 
he seemed so plain and unassuming. He knew what 
should be done and the simplest way of doing it ; and 
his gentle and considerate manner did not indicate 
the heartlessness which his enemies ascribed to him. 

The following incident that occurred after the war 
may be given as illustrative of his real temperament. 



94 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

In the spring of 1866 I was visiting a Mr. Curry 
at his beautiful country home near New York harbor, 
on the Jersey shore, some five miles from the City 
Hall. His family and ours had been friends in Scot- 
land. He had been a strong and active supporter of 
the government during the war. 

One night after attending a lecture in the city, 
Mr. Curry and I had taken the ferry for the Jersey 
shore, when we noticed some excitement at the far 
end of the boat, and it was said that General Grant 
was on board. Mr. Curry was quite interested, and 
said that he would like to see him. We went back, 
and found a great crowd with faces all turned toward 
a man sitting at the side of the boat, and were shout- 
ing, "Hurrah for General Grant!" He was seated on 
a bench among the other passengers, bundlled in an 
overcoat and pulled down over his eyes was a soft felt 
hat with a gold cord on it — the only mark about him 
of a military character. The crowd was wild, but no 
one ventured to intrude upon him. Mr. Curry said he 
would like to meet him, and urged that I go up and 
speak to him. With some reluctance I consented, 
•for I did not suppose that he would remember me. 
'We made our way through the crowd. As he looked 
up I said: "General Grant, you probably don't re- 
member me. I commanded the Ninth Ohio Cavalry 
under General Sherman. My name is Hamilton, and 
I want to introduce my friend Mr. Curry, a strong 
friend of yours and of our government." The gen- 



PATROL OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 95 

eral greeted us cordially, but seemed very sad, and 
turning to me he said : 

"I lost Potter today," "In what way?" I asked. 
He replied : ''I had just taken Fred up to school at West 
Point. When the return train arrived, there was a 
rush, and after we had got a seat, I discovered that 
I had left my satchel in the depot. Potter ran out 
to get it. The train had started but there was a 
sudden stop, and I heard an outcry, a man killed. I 
thought at once of Potter, and hurried out. There he 
lay. He had slipped and fallen under the wheels. The 
blood was flowing and he was so mangled I wouldn't 
have known him but for his uniform. Poor boy. He 
enlisted in my regiment in Galena, Illinois, as a private 
when I was a Colonel, and has been with me ever 
since, ready at my call in every battle I was in. And 
now that he should lose his life through a trivial 
oversight of mine!" And his voice trembled as he 
spoke. 

All this time the crowd was pressing around, 
shouting, 'Thee cheers for General Grant, the Hero 
of America!" and "Three cheers for General Grant, 
the Hero of the World !" And to it all he was thor- 
oughly oblivious. A young lady had unknowingly 
•seated herself beside him, and had listened to him 
with intense interest. When the boat reached the 
dock, he arose to go, and she inquired timidly, "Gen- 
eral Grant, may I shake hands with you ?" He turned 
•and said, "Why, certainly. Sis, if you want to." He 



g6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

looked SO tired and worn, that my friend Curry in- 
vited him to spend the night with us, but he said he 
was needed in Washington; he had been delayed by 
the unfortunate death of Colonel Potter, and must 
go on. 

Going back to the regiment at Nashville; after 
receiving my ammunition and equipment for the re- 
cruits of the First Battalion, I proceeded with the 
two battalions to Pulaski, Tennessee, and reported to 
General Dodge, who directed me to make my head- 
quarters at Athens, Alabama, in execution of the 
orders already received. 

After establishing camp at that point, I placed 
Lieutenant Colonel Cook in command to carry out 
the orders received, and proceeded to Knoxville to 
get the First Battalion. 

The horses were worn out by the Knoxville Cam- 
paign and I obtained an order from General Foster, 
in compliance with General Grant's instructions, to 
take the men to Nashville to be remounted. This 
consumed two weeks, after which I returned to 
Athens with the battalion on fresh mounts. 

Lieutenant Colonel Cook had received orders 
from General Dodge to take four companies to the 
Mussel Shoals twenty-five miles down the Tennessee 
river, and to search for stock and supplies supposed to 
be in that vicinity. 

He remained at the Mussel Shoals until I arrived 
at Athens, but had sent Captain Hetzler with Com- 



PATROL OF THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 97 

pany '*G," our gray horse company, twenty-five miles 
'farther down the river to examine the country. 

On the night of April 13th, 1864, Captain Hetzler 
camped his men in a cotton gin house on the Jack 
Peters Plantation, four miles below Florence, and 
'left them there, while he himself spent the night at 
the plantation house some distance away. Two men 
were detailed as horse guards, but no pickets were 
put to protect the camp. 

A confederate regiment which happened to be on 
the other side of the river at the time learned of the 
presence of the company, and sent a force across in 
'a ferry boat in the night, surrounded the gin house, 
killing one of the two horse guards, and quickly 
capturing the lieutenant and thirty-nine sleeping men, 
with forty gray horses. 

I arrived at Athens with the First Battalion on 
the following day, and learned of the catastrophe 
from some members of the company who had been 
out scouting, and had not been captured, Taking a 
battalion I started at once for that locality. At Mussel 
Shoals I found Colonel Cook, still in camp, having 
taken no action in the case. I ordered him to follow 
me with two companies ; but on reaching the place, 
all I could learn only increased my chagrin. Not 
more than two companies of the enemy had crossed 
over. They had compelled a darkey to guide them to 
the gin house in which our men were sleeping; the 
capture was made without a fight. Captain Hetzler 

7 



98 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

was found and captured at the plantation house, 
where he was sleeping. The men were taken across 
in the ferry boat and the horses made to swim. 

We afterward learned that the thirty-nine men 
were sent to Andersonville ; and near the close of the 
war eight of them were exchanged and reached the 
regiment, broken in health and spirits, reporting that 
all the others had died from exposure and starvation 
while in that horrid prison. 

The lieutenant (Knapp) who was confined else- 
where, escaped from his prison, and although chased 
with bloodhounds, he succeeded, through the assist- 
ance of a darkey, in reaching our lines after we 
reached Savannah. 

Captain Hetzler, who was a physician before en- 
tering the service, never returned to the regiment, 
but is understood to have taken up the practice of 
medicine in Missouri after the close of the war. 

I had always tried to impress upon the men that 
parties of soldiers properly armed should never sur- 
render ; that brave men are never cruel and cruel men, 
never brave; and although they might be well treated 
by their captors, they would be almost sure to find 
cruel men among prison guards. 



CHAPTER 14. 

The Affair at Center Star. 

I returned to Athens to give attention to the wel- 
fare of the regiment, and the cultivation of cordial 
relations among the men and officers of the old and 
new battalions. Shortly afterward an epidemic of 
smallpox broke out, and we lost thereby ten or twelve 
good men. Vaccination was resorted to, which in 
some cases proved about as bad as the disease itself. 

While here I learned from scouts that a mounted 
battalion of the enemy had crossed the river, and 
were camped at the Mussel Shoals near Center Star, 
where Lieutenant Colonel Cook had been stationed 
with four companies the month before. I inquired 
of Colonel Cook as to the situation of the camp and 
its approaches and learned that, as the scouts had re- 
ported, the camp was near the ford and the islands; 
and that two roads starting a mile apart on the Flor- 
ence road, converged at the ford. On each of these 
roads cavalry pickets of the enemy were stationed 
about a mile from their camp. I told Colonel Cook 
that here was a fine chance to return the compliment 
they had paid us at the Peters' plantation; that I 
would take the two companies, and would give him 
two, including Company "B" of the First Battalion 

(99, 



100 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

'and Major Williamson, a very capable officer who 
had formerly been its captain; we would move at 
bne o'clock a. m. by the Florence road to the en- 
trance of the first road. Here he would halt his 
command while I proceeded to the second road. At 
precisely four o'clock we were to move forward simul- 
taneously on the two roads ; and the fire of the 
enemies' pickets on either column, would be heard by 
both and be the signal for an immediate charge by 
both columns. We would thus come in upon them, I 
on one side and he on the other, and have them 
cornered. 

We saw that our watches agreed, and at the hour 
named, I moved forward. I drew the picket fire 
'first, and at once charged. When I reached their 
camp they were mounting in great haste, and head- 
ing toward the river near the mouth of the first road. 
Expecting the charge of Cook's column, I felt sure 
that we had them. However, they reached the river 
without opposition, and crossed to the island, from 
'which they returned our fire from the cover of a 
dense cane brake. We, finding that we could pro- 
ceed no farther, took position along the river behind 
the old unfinished canal bank which had been built 
by the government some years before the war under 
the supervision of Capt, Gothal. 

I found that nothing could be accomplished, how- 
ever, and ordered the men back out of danger, for 
some wounds had already been received and one man 
killed. When I reached higher ground, Colonel Cook 



THE AFFAIR AT CENTER STAR. lOI 

had just arrived, and in reply to my question what had 
become of him, he said he had not heard the picket fire 
upon us, but that he had encountered a strong picket in 
ambush, and had dismounted some men to get them 
out from under cover, before advancing. I was thor- 
oughly disgusted and went to Major Williamson for 
an account of the occurrence. 

"I heard the picket fire, on your road, and was 
ready to charge," said the Major, "but Colonel Cook 
ordered me to dismount some men and clear the road 
before we tried to pass. We also heard your guns 
in the enemy's camp before we got started, and then 
we came forward at a common trot. And I now 
want to say right here that while I don't want to 
speak disrespectfully of my superior officers I will 
resign rather than serve under that man again !" 

Lieutenant Colonel Cook was a fine looking and 
plausible man of thirty-eight. He had been a private 
in the Mexican War, and a captain of infantry earlier 
in the Civil War; had commanded a company at the 
ill-fated battle of Perryville, Kentucky, in which, it 
was claimed, he had handled his company well. Gov- 
ernor Tod had given him a recruiting commission and 
the general management of the two battalions he was 
recruiting for me; issuing commissions on his recom- 
mendation, and had given him the promise of a lieu- 
tenant colonelcy on the completion of the regiment. 

In the beginning, I had been unfavorably im- 
pressed with two or three of the officers he had selected 
for the two new battalions, but Governor Tod had 



I02 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

asked me to try them in the field since he had promised 
them commissions; but assured me that if I found it 
necessary to call on him, he would give me all the as- 
sistance he could. And I desire here to record to the 
memory of Governor Tod that he faithfully kept his 
promise. 

The affair at Center Star was the first opportunity 
I had to test the efficiency of Colonel Cook, in the 
face of the enemy. During the six months he had 
been with the regiment, whenever he had been called 
on to tax either his body or his nerve, he had man- 
aged to prove his disability by a certificate from his 
friend, the assistant surgeon. Dr. Thorpe. But this 
affair was beyond excuse. I, at once, wrote to the 
governor setting forth the facts. He endorsed my 
letter and forwarded it to Stanton, Secretary of War 
at Washington; and an order was immediately pub- 
lished dismissing Lieutenant Colonel Cook from the 
service. 

About six weeks afterwards Major Plettner, an- 
other of the objectionable officers, who, as ranking 
captain of the new battalions, had been promoted to 
major on the organization of the regiment, was dis- 
missed in the same way, for similar reasons ; and the 
assistant surgeon found it advisable to tender his res- 
ignation. 

In two other instances, after a meeting with the 
enemy, the resignation of officers was, at my sug- 
gestion, handed in. And the reputation the regiment 
maintained was by reason of the fact that objec- 



THE AFFAIR AT CENTER STAR. IO3 

tionable officers were promptly weeded out and the 
vacancies supplied by the promotion of better men 
from the ranks. 

I believe from 4 years experience in the army that 
fully 10 per cent of both officers and men were of no 
value to the service except to count. And that of the 
2,600,000 names entered upon the pay roll during 
the war at least 260,000 were a dead weight to the 
service, and the money spent in their support should 
be charged to "Profit and Loss" as one of the wastes 
of war. 



CHAPTER 15. 

The Florence Campaign. 

In April, 1864, I received an order from General 
Sherman through General Granville M. Dodge, to 
take my command to Florence, Alabama, and from 
that point as headquarters, to continue the patrol of 
the Tennessee river, obtaining subsistence from the 
surrounding region and to exhaust the supplies found 
in that locality. 

The valley of the Tennessee for miles both above 
and below Florence was a very fertile district, and 
had been General Forrest's unfailing source of sup- 
plies for his cavalry in their raids upon the Union 
forces in Tennessee. 

We took only two days rations and a fair supply of 
sugar and coffee, and moved down to Florence, es- 
tablishing our camp two miles below the town on 
Cypress Creek on the plantation of Captain Coffee, 
whose fine home could be seen in a grove of trees on 
an eminence above the creek. Captain Coffee was a 
son of General Coffee, a distinguished officer of the 
War of 1812, and second in command to General 
Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. The son, 
Captain Coffee, had been a captain in the confederate 
army, but had resigned by reason of wounds received 

(104) 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. IO5 

in the battle of Shiloh, and remained out of the serv- 
ice under the law passed by the Confederate Congress, 
which exempted from military service all planters 
owning forty or more slaves, this being to enable 
them to raise supplies for the army which were badly 
needed. This was a great relief to the wealthy 
planters but it had a bad effect upon the rank and 
file of the southern army, for it drew the line between 
the men who brought on the war and those who were 
compelled to do the fighting. 

The morning after our arrival I made a detail of 
scouts in charge of officers to canvass the country 
for eight or ten miles in every direction on the north 
side of the river, noting the roads, the different plan- 
tations, the names of the owners, and their visible 
supplies, as far as possible; and especially to visit 
and examine the plantation of Jack Peters, on which 
half of our gray horse company had been captured. 
In the evening the officers in charge made quite a 
satisfactory report as to the quantity of supplies of 
every kind in sight. 

Next morning a detail of lo teams — 6 mules each 
— was sent out on the different roads, each in charge 
of a sergeant and guard, to gather from the different 
plantations corn and hay and oats for the horses ; 
and the store houses belonging to the cotton mills 
were prepared to receive the supplies. 

I instructed the men that in their intercourse with 
people they must never allow the "soldier" to outrank 



I06 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the "gentleman." That we had to restore the Union 
as well as to crush the rebellion. 

The following day the teams were sent with in- 
structions to secure bacon, hams, beef and other 
meats, corn meal, flour and other supplies for the 
men, and to the consternation of the people we began 
to carry out the object of the expedition. 

The Jack Peters plantation comprised 6,000 acres 
extending from the river back into the highlands. 
Peters, the owner, was a bachelor about sixty-five 
years old. originally from one of the New England 
States, an unpopular citizen, hard and close, but suc- 
cessful financially. He had come there many years 
previously with some money, and now besides his 
land, he had some five hundred slaves of all ages and 
shades of color, some of whom were said to be rela- 
tives of his own ! 

I stationed a company on this plantation to patrol 
the river below, and instructed the officers to see to 
it that their camp was kept properly guarded, to make 
their men comfortable and to gather their subsistence 
from this plantation for both horses and men. 

Some days afterwards I rode down to see them, 
and Peters, hearing I was there, sent for me. I rode 
over to see him and found him sitting on the veranda. 
A rather good looking and cleanly dressed quadroon 
girl was leaning against the door frame a short dis- 
tance from him. When he saw me he said in a loud, 
imperious voice, *T want to let you know. Sir, that 
the men you sent here are injuring my property." 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. W/ 

"In what way?" I asked. 

"Well, sir," said he, they are feeding their horses 
on my corn and hay; they are taking my bacon and 
sweet potatoes, and even chickens, without leave. 
They are burning my fence rails to cook their victuals 
and keep up fires at night ; and they are talking mis- 
chief to my overseer and people; and I want you to 
take them away, Sir, the sooner the better." 

"Two weeks ago," I replied, "a part of a com- 
pany of my command was captured on your planta- 
tion while their captain was asleep in your house. 
My men suspect that you or your overseer know 
something about it. I sent this company here to do 
just what you are complaining of; and it is only be- 
cause I have not sufficient evidence that the enemy 
got some word from you, that your house is still 
standing; and although I have given orders not to 
burn your premises, if you are not very careful your 
house may yet go up in smoke." And with that I 
turned and left him. 

I will say here, that my experience in command 
of cavalry operating at a distance from the heavy 
bodies of infantry, brought me into intimate acquaint- 
ance with the character and mode of life of the 
southern people. Nearly all planters, "to the Manor 
born," looked upon their slaves with a paternal in- 
terest, having care for their health and comfort. This 
interest was generally responded to by the warm- 
hearted and faithful servants, and it was with a 
sense of shame I learned that some owners who were 



loS RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

said to be oppressive taskmasters had come from the 
North, expecting to find an easier road to wealth 
through the forced toil of slaves. They tried to get 
as much work from the easy-going and good-natured 
blacks as was obtained from the paid white labor of 
the North. 

The planters led the easy life of English country 
gentlemen; many of them were descendants of 
good families from the British Isles. They were 
hostile to a society composed, as they thought, of in- 
ferior representatives of the mixed nationalities of 
Europe, who were impelled with the feverish am- 
bition to accumulate wealth, even — by outwitting 
friends, which they understood was the com- 
mon spirit that pervaded the North and I felt 
that while it was a great thing to put down the re- 
bellion and preserve the unity of the States, it was 
also great to obliterate the prejudice that had grown 
up between the two sections, and to pave the way 
for the development of a homogeneous people. 

It was my practice to go about through the camp 
at supper time, to see what the men had to eat. On 
the third evening, I found one of the companies in 
quite lively spirits, with a good supper, and a large 
assortment of valuable silverware to eat it with. 

I asked the sergeant in charge of the forage team 
where he got the silver. He said he inquired of a 
colored man where he could get corn, and was 
told that down by the river there was a big limestone 
cave full of it. He drove down and found it as he 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN 



109 



had been informed. The corn was still in the husk; 
in filling his wagon bed, he uncovered the silver- 
ware, and so brought it along. 

There was a large quantity of knives, forks, 
spoons of different sizes, and fine dishes of different 
kinds, engraved with the name **W. H. Key," and 
marked "Sterling." 

On reaching my quarters I sent for the captain 
and directed him, when the men cleaned up the things 
after supper, to gather up that silver and bring it to 
my quarters. This was done, and I had the silver 
wrapped in packages and placed in charge of the 
sergeant with orders to deliver it to Mr. Key, the 
owner, who, I learned, lived on a plantation seven 
miles down the river. 

Next morning I sent the silver with a note to the 
owner, telling how my men had found it, and saying 
that if he had any more valuables hid out anywhere, 
he should take them to his house, as they would be 
safer there. 

That afternoon a colored man brought me a note 
from Mr. Key, in which he thanked me for the re- 
turn of the silver and expressed surprise that a 
Yankee would do a thing like that; adding, however, 
that as some of the more valuable and highly prized 
pieces were still missing, he had gone to the cave, 
but had not found them, and he was uncertain 
whether my men or some colored men had taken 
them. 

I sent for the sergeant and asked him whether or 



no RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

not the men had taken all the silver they had found. 
He said they had not; that there were some large 
pieces which they had re-buried under the corn in 
another part of the cave. I had him make me a 
diagram of the cave, and mark the spot. I then sent 
for the captain and told him to go in the evening 
when the men were at supper and see if there was 
not some more silver among the men, which they had 
secreted the night before; if so, to bring it to me. 
This he did and found some. 

Next morning I wrote another note to Mr. Key, 
enclosing the diagram of the cave, and explaining 
the facts; and returned the silver gathered up the 
night before. In the afternoon I received another 
note of thanks from him, in which he said that he 
had gone to the cave and found the silver as I had 
described, and closed with a request that he might be 
permitted to come to camp and thank me personally 
for my unexpected kindness. I wrote in reply that I 
would be glad to meet him. 

The next day a typical southern planter, about 
forty years of age, came to my tent and was intro- 
duced by my friend Mr. Martin of the cotton mill, 
as Mr. W. H. Key, who I learned was a prominent 
man familiarly known as "Buck" Key. 

"I was the more surprised," said he, "at your 
kindness, for I suppose you had been told that I was 
a rebel." 

"Oh, I don't know," said I, *''but that would have 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. Ill 

made no difference. I suppose you are all seces- 
sionists down here." 

''Now, let me correct you there," said he, "I sup- 
pose I may properly be called a 'rebel,' but I am not 
a secessionist. The original secessionists belong to 
South Carolina; they are the followers of John C. 
Calhoun. My family and I are old time Whigs, fol- 
lowers of Henry Clay of Kentucky, who did not be- 
lieve in secession. But we have been driven to rebel- 
lion by the encroachment of the North, and I see no 
way but to fight it out." 

"Mr. Key," I replied, "I thank you for what you 
have taught me today. I never realized the differ- 
ence between a 'rebel' and a 'secessionist.' My father's 
family, also, were old time Whigs and followers of 
Henry Clay," and, cordially giving him my hand, I 
continued, "vSo that after all I suspect we are half- 
brothers in politics." 

We spent an hour very pleasantly in my tent, and 
as he arose to go, extending his hand again, he said, 
"By the way. Colonel, I have an order from the 
major general commanding our department at home, 
who is my wife, to invite "that Yankee" to dine with 
us, if after making his acquaintance I think him a 
proper person to be introduced into our family, for, 
fortunately or unfortunately, I am not sure which, 
we have a family of six children of whom all but the 
next to the youngest are daughters; and in these 
troublous times my wife is cautious about inviting 



112 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Strangers to the house; but I would be glad to have 
them meet you at our home. When can you come?" 

I replied : "You may give my compliments to the 
major general commanding your department and say 
that I appreciate the honor offered and will be glad 
to come at any time." 

"I have carte blanche," he said, "Can you come 
tomorrow ?" 

"Name the hour." And two oclock was named. 

"I will be there," said I. 

His plantation embraced some two thousand acres 
of cotton land on the river. A few miles below this, 
on the other side, a rebel regiment, which had been 
recruited in that locality, was stationed. 

The next morning I made a detail consisting of a 
lieutenant and fifty men, and set of¥. We came in 
sight of the place from a rising strip of timber over- 
looking the extensive plantation. A large white 
house was situated in the center of a grove of trees 
some distance from the road. It was a beautiful 
April day. I ordered the lieutenant to dismount his 
men quietly in the woods and watch that no one ap- 
proach the house while I was there. 

I found Mr. Key awaiting me on the wide 
veranda, and was introduced to ^Irs. Key, who, with 
cordial welcome, invited me into the parlor where 
Mr. Key left us. She was a fine looking lady, easy 
and refined in her manner, and in all respects a typical 
planter's wife. She was too well bred to betray any 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. II3 

unusual excitement about the presence of one whom 
they had been taught to regard as a dangerous enemy. 

The conversation was frank and pleasant. After 
a while a little black eye peeped in about the height 
of the door knob, and the mother, looking around, 
said, ''Come in, Lottie come in, don't be afraid. This 
is not one of the bad Yankees you have heard about ; 
this is a good Yankee." The little girl came in 
timidly, keeping her back close to the wall until she 
got her mother in line between her and me ; then com- 
ing forward, slowly, she placed her chin on her folded 
arms across her mother's knee, and looked at me 
curiously. Soon, however, we became friends and 1 
had her on my knee. 

When dinner was announced I was introduced to 
the older daughters, and invited into the dining room. 
I had been told that the young ladies were handsome, 
and had dressed myself with care accordingly. Be- 
ing a young man and a Yankee, I felt it my patriotic 
duty to make as good an impression as possible, even 
upon the ladies. Mr. Key took his seat at the head 
of the table and began carving, while I devoted my- 
self in my best form to the daughters, who were quite 
attractive. The dinner was excellent, although Mrs. 
Key said that their table was very much restricted by 
reason of General Forrest's troops which had been en- 
camped upon their property recently, the General him- 
self being the guest. 

While I was complimenting the dinner, a servant 

a 



114 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

opened the door and said that there were some 
soldiers out doors. A change of expression came 
over the faces of us all. Mr. Key got up from the 
table and u^ent out. The ladies looked at me with 
alarm. Soon Mr. Key returned and said that they 
were Yankee soldiers. I asked what they wanted. 

He replied, "A sergeant asked for the key to my 
smoke house." 

"What did you tell him?" 

"I told him that you were in the house, and he 
answered, That is all right, but we want the keys to 
the smoke house all the same.' A sergeant and six 
men with a six-mule team are out there waiting." 

"Well, Mr. Key," said I, "I know of no alterna- 
tive but for you to give him the keys." 

He replied, "It is just as you say," and left the 
room. 

All the family were looking at me, and I looked 
at my plate, but I think none of us felt very hungry 
just then. 

After a while Mr. Key returned. 

"Well," said I, "How did you get along with the 
boys? How did they treat you?" 

"They treated me personally well enough, but the 
sergeant wanted the keys. I opened the smoke house 
door, at his suggestion; he looked in and asked if 
that was my entire supply of meat. I told him it 
was. He inquired the number in my family and I 
told him. He then showed his men what pieces of 
meat to take. I noticed they were mostly hams. He 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. II5 

asked then for the keys to my corn crib, and I left 
him finishing the load with corn." 

Mr. Key sat down, took up his knife and fork 
and resumed his dinner. The silence had become op- 
pressive. I laid down my knife and fork, and slowly 
straightened up. 

''Mr. Key, I must confess this is the most embar- 
rassing position I ever was in, in my life. Here I am, 
invited to your house, as a gentleman, seated at your 
table as a guest, and my men are out there robbing your 
smoke house and corn crib and I know it, and I do 
not forbid them. The fact is they are acting strictly 
under orders I received from my commander, Gen- 
eral Sherman. They seem severe, but under the cir- 
cumstances are unavoidable. The war cannot be 
carried on without supplies ; and, after all, it is more 
humane to destroy the supplies of the enemy than to 
kill the soldiers, especially in a civil war like this. 
General Sherman knows that your region here has 
been a valuable source of supplies for the forces of 
General Forrest who has been resting here and feed- 
ing his troops between his raids into Tennessee, which 
have resulted in the death of so many good men on 
both sides, and he will do this so long as your sup- 
plies last. And, Mrs. Key, allow me to suggest that 
if your family had been boys instead of these hand- 
some girls, you would probably have cause to mourn 
the death of some of them, instead of simply re- 
gretting the loss of the corn and bacon. I sent back 
your silver because I had no orders to take silver. 



Il6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

and if I had left it among my men it might have 
crippled their efficiency by injuring their discipline, 
and being family plate, it . could not be used to 
strengthen the confederate cause." 

They began to realize the truth of what I had 
said, and with fine courtesy, continued the cordiality 
they had shown me in the beginning. I left them as 
friends and was almost glad that the embarrassing 
occurrence had taken place just as it did. They in- 
vited me to come to see them whenever I could. I 
found my escort had enjoyed a fine afternoon, and 
we returned to camp in good time. 

A few days later I was introduced by Mr. Martin 
to Governor Patton, who owned a plantation in the 
vicinity. He was a rather delicate looking gentle- 
man and reminded me of a college professor. He 
was Lieutenant Governor of Alabama when the state 
seceded; and had earnestly opposed the step, as an 
old Henry Clay Whig, but as he told me, he had gone 
with his state. 

He had called to see me, he said, at the request of 
his wife. All his able "help" had left him, and there 
was none at home except the old servants who had 
taken care of him when a child and their grand- 
children. 

'T was in a field," he said, "trying to plow some 
ground, with the only team the war had left me, that 
they might plant it in corn, when a corporal and two 
of your men rode up. They told me to unhitch the 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. II7 

horses, and after trying them, they took one and left 
the other, saying it was of no account to them. My 
wife, who was near by, saw it and was greatly grieved, 
and suggested with tears that I go down and see the 
Yankee officer, — perhaps he might do something 
about it. I know the rules of war in the enemy's 
country, and I expect nothing. I came only to sat- 
isfy her. Our own people took the best of my stock." 
'1 suspect, Governor," I replied, "that your wife 
has more faith in the Yankee's heart than you have. 
My men were acting under my orders and if they left 
a horse in your tield it wasn't worth much. But it is 
time your field was plowed, if your people are to 
raise any corn this year. I think I can help you. I 
have some horses whose backs have been so injured 
during our night marches when saddle blankets were 
lost that they cannot get well in time to be of use to 
us, but their shoulders are good. Come out and look 
at them, and pick out one." He chose modestly, but 
I told him to take a better one. He selected another, 
that one would do, said I, but no horse that my men 
had left could keep up its end of the double- 
tree with that one. 'Tick one that can." He chose 
another. "Now that will make you a good team, but 
hereafter when their backs gtt well, some other 
soldier may want one or both of these. Select an- 
other and turn it out in a back field with the one my 
men left you, and you and the old folks will be able 
to tend your corn." 



Il8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

We found some leading ropes and he went home 
with three horses that were an encumbrance to us, but 
could be made of value to him. 

The feeling born of the war still existed among 
the people, but I sent a guard consisting of a non- 
commissioned officer and three men to each planta- 
tion house within reach of the river, and this was 
changed every few days. My men were eager for 
the detail, as they thus made acquaintances, and often 
were given something good to eat. I told them, how- 
ever, that none but gentlemen would be sent on this 
duty, for I wanted to let the people know that we 
had good people in Ohio; and the captains had in- 
structions to detail none but those who showed by 
their deportment that they had been well raised at 
home. This had the effect of stimulating a proper 
ambition among the men and did much to elevate the 
regiment in public estimation; and more to cultivate a 
high order of discipline than methods of punishment 
commonly resorted to. 

One day, shortly after we established camp, the 
corporal of the guard brought a young lady on horse- 
back, to headquarters wanting to go through the lines. 
I asked her where she lived, what her name was, 
where she was going, what for, etc., all of which she 
answered very pleasantly. She seemed to enjoy the 
experience and her black eyes sparkled with its 
novelty. In fact, I asked her more questions than 
the regulations require, just because of her bright 
eyes. 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. I IQ 

I learned that she was going to town to see some 
relatives. The next day she was again brought in 
by the corporal from the opposite side of the camp, 
and I began the catechism again. She had been visit- 
ing an aunt in town, two of whose sons were at the 
time attending the University of Edinburgh, Scot- 
land. Her name had been given as "Mrs. McQuire." 
I asked where her husband was. She replied that she 
had none, that she was a widow and lived with her 
mother, Mrs. Collier, who also was a widow, on their 
plantation some miles down the river. In a few days 
she came again on her way to town, and was brought 
to my headquarters again, when we talked at greater 
length. She remarked, "I understand that you arc 
Scotch." 

*Who told you that?" I asked. 
"The guard you were kind enough to send down 
to our house. You see our people are also Scotch." 
Her father who, I had learned, was at one time 
governor of the state, but had died some years before. 
She had an older sister at home whose husband. Cap- 
tain Simpson, was a quartermaster in the regiment 
across the river. Her mother had asked her to invite 
me to come and see them. I told her I should be de- 
lighted to do so, if she and her sister would promise 
not to invite their friends across the river to come 
over and capture me. She laughed and promised 
that they would not. I went down afterwards with a 
scouting party and called on the family. 

Mrs. Collier and her two daughters lived alone 



120 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

with their servants, as they preferred to take some 
personal risk rather than leave their home unoc- 
cupied and exposed to the lawlessness of the times. 
I had a very pleasant call. They insisted 
that I was not a Yankee but a Scotchman. 
I said, however, "I am a Yankee from Ohio 
— or rather, a Buckeye grafted on the stem 
of a thistle. In early life I was fed on oatmeal por- 
ridge and the Shorter Catechism, in an atmosphere 
where it was considered a sin to "Whussel on the 
Sawbath Day." But I was educated as a Yankee, 
and am now neither better nor worse than the aver- 
age Yankees of the North who are honestly trying to 
keep the nation from going to pieces." 

They seemed puzzled and said that there was 
surely something wrong about all this ; and they ex- 
pressed a wish that I could meet the colonel and 
some of their friends across the river, and proposed 
that they would give a party and invite some of their 
officers over and if I would bring some of mine to 
meet them at supper, all would spend the evening to- 
gether. 

"Would you be willing to come?" they asked. 

"Oh, certainly," said I, "but your officers would 
not come. They would be at a disadvantage exposing 
themselves on the wrong side of the river without 
having as much faith in us as would justify the ven- 
ture." 

So that in spite of their gracious proposal we 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. I2I 

unfortunately were not permitted to meet and arrange 
the terms of peace ! 

Captain Cofifee also invited me to his house, and 
my acquaintance with him and his family was in- 
teresting and pleasant. They had only one child, 
Mary, a sweet little girl of about ten years ; and we 
soon became great friends. 

One day when I called, I found her sitting by 
her mother plaiting rye straw from a bundle on her 
knee. 

''What are you doing, Mary?" I asked. 

"1 am trying to make a hat." 

"Who for?" I asked. 

''Why, for myself," she said. 

"If you will give me some straw, I will help you." 

"Do you know how to make a hat?" 

"Of course, I do." 

"Do you know what the fashion is in the North ?" 

"Oh, I know all about it." 

I drew up a chair and sat down beside her; she 
gave me a bundle of straw and we went gayly to 
work. It took us several afternoons to finish that hat, 
and we had great fun over it. "After all," she said, 
"the only way to get a new hat is to make one, for 
the cruel Yankees won't let the ships bring us any new 
hats." 

I had given instruction that while the men and 
horses were to fare liberally, the different planta- 
tions should be allowed to retain sufficient provisions 



122 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

for their own real needs. So that we came to 
be looked upon simply as one of the burdens of a 
cruel war; and they met the inevitable without com- 
plaint like a high-spirited people. 

I called frequently at the Key's plantation. Mr. 
Key displayed a new interest in the war, and wished 
to learn more from our point of view. Although this 
was in the spring of 1864 the South had not lost faith 
in the final success of their cause. Their papers had 
been misleading, but new light had begun to break 
in upon them, and they suspected that they had been 
entertaining an incorrect view of the northern people. 
They had also noticed some diflference, in character 
and deportment between Forrest's men and mine. 

"Your men," said Mr. Key, "we have found, are 
orderly and polite. We never hear them quarrel, and 
they always speak with the highest respect of their 
officers; and while we thank you for the guards you 
send to our houses, we feel that we scarcely need 
their protection. We would like to know more about 
the home life of your officers and men." 

I told him that allowance should be made for the 
fact that Forrest's men received their pay only in a 
currency that had but little value. And discipline in a 
modern army cannot live long without money. I 
gave him an account of the organization of my regi- 
ment, saying that it might be regarded as fairly 
representative of the people of Ohio. 

"Many pi the boys", said I, "are our neighbors' 
sons, and went to school to me in the winter and 



THE FLORENCE CAMPAIGN. 123 

worked on the farms in the summer. I have also 
the sons of merchants, manufacturers, bankers and 
professional men, and we all were taught that work 
is honorable. The social organization of the South, 
we regard as unnatural, and not consistent with a 
democracy such as this nation was intended to be. 
My father reared his family comfortably on a farm 
of two hundred acres. It takes two thousand acres 
and a hundred slaves to supply the wants of your 
family. This, we think, discredits labor, and dooms 
your sons to idleness." 

Once afterwards when I called I found him in 
the barnyard, and two of the daughters were milking 
the cows. 

''Ah, Colonel," he remarked, ''you find us prac- 
ticing at the lessons you have been teaching us. We 
have been thinking that perhaps it might be well to 
try and get ready for any change that may be ap- 
proaching." 

After a campaign of nearly a month I was ordered 
to Decatur and left that locality with the good will 
of its citizens none of whom had been deprived of 
their necessary supplies or subjected to any humilia- 
tion. But Forrest's base of operations was destroyed 
which was submitted to without much regret. 



CHAPTER i6. 
Battle of Decatur. 

On the 2nd of May ('64) I was ordered with my 
regiment to Decatur, Alabama, about sixty miles up 
the Tennessee river from Florence, and some 130 
miles below Chattanooga, and the only point held by 
Union forces below that point. 

On my arrival here I found a regiment of infantry 
and a small fort with a battery of artillery. My orders 
were to patrol the south side of the river above and 
below Decatur. 

The rebel General Roddy with a mixed command 
of one brigade of infantry and mounted men, had 
been making frequent demonstrations in that locality 
with the purpose of taking the post at Decatur so 
as to have full control of the south side of the river. 
General Sherman, however, considered it important 
to be held, in view of his proposed advance toward 
Atlanta. 

Our respective scouts had frequent encounters, 
but seldom at close range. The enemy's force was 
increased and it seemed to be their determination to 
drive us back across the river. To prevent this an 
infantry brigade under command of Brigadier General 
Davidson was sent to our assistance. 

(124) 



BATTLE OF DECATUR. 125 

The enemy frequently attempted to capture our 
outposts, consisting of a sergeant and a squad of men 
dismounted some distance in advance of our infantry 
pickets, and a mounted vidette kept under cover as 
much as possible some two hundred yards in advance. 

One midnight a big, strong prisoner was brought 
to my quarters, bleeding from a shot in the face, and 
moaning piteously. It seems that the vidette was 
sitting on his horse under a tree in the dark, and 
saw dimly what at first he thought was a hog, across 
the road, in the woods, behind a fence. It was slowly 
moving toward the picket post. He became convinced 
that it was a soldier and fired. The man, — for such 
it proved to be, — cried, *'Oh, I am shot !" At the 
picket post he told the sergeant that he had been 
coming in to give himself up, for he was tired of the 
war. His gun was found, however, in the morning 
lying loaded and half cocked behind the fence where 
he was shot. Although he declared he was on his 
feet when shot through the cheek, we found the bullet 
hole in a thin rail near the ground, and he must have 
been on his hands and knees when the vidette fired. 
I sent him to the doctor at the hospital and he was 
taken care of. 

An order had been issued by the post commander 
that in case a general attack was made, a gun should 
be fired from the fort, and this would be a notice for 
all the forces to turn out without further orders. All 
the companies were notified of this arrangement. 

At daylight on Sunday morning, the 8th of June, 



126 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the alarm gun was fired. Ten companies of the 
Ninth Regiment were promptly in the saddle, and we 
dashed forward to the point of attack. The mounted 
officer of the picket guard, who was from our 
Regiment, met me and pointed out the position and 
formation of the enemy's line which was in a field 
to which a road from the town lead. On one side 
of this road was a heavy body of timber, on the other 
a fence and corn field, leaving no way to attack the 
enemy except by charging along the road in column 
for a quarter of a mile. 

This I decided to do, and placing myself with 
Captain Walter Morrison at the head of the first 
company ("E"), I ordered the bugler to sound the 
charge. The men responded with a shout and drew 
their pistols as the horses dashed forward. The 
enemy held their fire until we came well within reach, 
then opened upon us. On this first volley, I received 
a shot in the right foot. 

The woods and the cornfield gave them a narrow 
frontage through which to fire at us, and before they 
could reload their pieces, we were upon them with 
pistol and sabre. They were thrown into confusion, 
lost their formation in the center, and rushed pell 
mell across the narrow field into another body of tim- 
ber, where they re-formed behind an old rail fence. 

T rode into the open to see their position and 
ordered the companies to form from column into line 
as they came up, and to charge as I directed. 

My orderly and watchful aid, Morton Black, 



BATTLE OF DECATUR. 127 

suddenly called out, "Look out, Colonel." It was 
Sunday morning. I had dressed for Sunday inspec- 
tion, and was therefore rather conspicuous in full 
uniform. I followed his glance and saw three puffs 
of smoke rise from near the bottom of the fence 
across the field, and at the same instant felt the pass 
of one bullet at my right, and another on my left. 
The third disabled my horse. I called tor another and 
in changing, found that the shot received in the road 
had lamed me. I had not had time to give attention 
to it, except to feel that I could still move my toes. 

In our charge by companies in line I noticed near 
me E. B. Gatchel of Company "F" who dashed for- 
ward, yelling, "Come on, boys, there's dead loads of 
'em over there." He had not gone far when a bullet 
struck him in the lower jaw. He did not fall from 
his horse but saying, "They've plugged it to me, boys," 
put his hand to his face, stopped his horse, slowly dis- 
mounted and lay down. 

Approaching a planter's house surrounded by 
trees, I saw a woman pulling at a wounded man to get 
him behind a big white oak tree, for protection from 
our charge. I called to her to leave the man, run to 
the house and get into the cellar, if there was one, 
for this was no place for a woman. She had not 
realized the danger until she saw the line of horse- 
men almost upon her. They gave her the right of 
way however, as she left the wounded man and ran 
for dear life. 

We broke and scattered the second line of General 



128 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Roddy's forces, and they fled into the thick woods. 
On returning, we met General Davidson and his brig- 
ade of infantry who had arrived during the second 
charge. When I reported to him, he said, **That was 
handsomely done, Colonel." 

In this affair we lost no men killed ; we gathered 
up our few wounded and those the enemy left, who 
were taken to a hospital, and we returned to head- 
quarters. 

The surgeon examined my wound, and found that 
the ball had hit the iron bolt of my wooden stirrup, 
bent it and split the wood, striking a large spur 
buckle. It had glanced off, leaving a deep impression 
on my boot, but not going through the leather, and 
my foot was badly swollen. The surgeon directed that 
cold water be poured on my foot during the rest of 
the day, to allay the swelling, after he had let the 
blood out of the wound. I went about on crutches 
for a time, but was not off duty, chiefly for the reason 
that I had no field officers present to take my place. 

While here, Michael Nachtrieb, an artist and mem- 
ber of the band from Wooster, Ohio, found a prepared 
canvas on which he asked to paint my portrait. I 
have the painting still and value it in memory of a 
genial comrade who proved himself as proficient in 
art as he was in music, both of which, however, 
were more to his liking than the care of his horse, 
which on inspection day was tested by the use of a 
white pocket handkerchief. One morning Mike ap- 
peared on a new horse, for which he had traded with 





Michael Xachtrieb, 
Musician. 



Sergt. Geo. H. Hill, 
o. 1. 





Lt, Thos. J. Cochran, 
Co. "C," 9th O. V. C. 



Lt. Wm. B. Ely, 
Co. "L," Uth O. V. C. 



BATTLE OF DECATUR. 12^ 

one of the boys. I reprimanded him, saying that the 
horse was not as good as his old one. ''Not quite," 
he said, "but it was a clean one, Colonel!" 

Some time after the war I met Judge Woods of 
Florence, formerly a colonel in the confederate army. 
Speaking of the Decatur engagement, he told me that 
Major Ferguson, afterwards a prominent lawyer in 
Memphis, was criticised at the time by General Roddy 
because his line gave way on our second charge. Fer- 
guson replied, "What was the use, Gennul, the mo' 
we fiahed, the wuss they got!" And the Judge said 
this reply became one of their stock army jokes. 



CHAPTER 17. 
Rousseau's Raid. 

In the spring of 1864, Sherman began crowding 
Johnston back from Chattanooga toward Atlanta ; and 
during this movement, the Ninth Ohio Cavalry 
operating in connection with a brigade of infantry 
held Decatur, guarding against a flank movement of 
the enemy in that direction and protecting Sherman's 
reinforcements at this, the only available crossing of 
the Tennessee river below Chattanooga. 

When Sherman crossed the Chattahoochee in his 
advance on Atlanta it became necessary to cut the 
railroads over which supplies were brought to that 
city and to Johnston's army. The most important of 
these was the road reaching Salem, Alabama, Mont- 
gomery and the southwest. At Salem were situated 
the confederate government shops which furnished 
most of the artillery and ordnance supplies for the 
confederacy. This road also extended down through 
a rich farming region which furnished the commissary 
supplies. Johnston had so effectually guarded it for 
miles out of Atlanta that Sherman had been unable 
to reach it. 

On the 6th of July I received a dispatch from 
General Rousseau commanding at Nashville, directing 

(130) 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. 



131 



me to meet him there the next morning. When I 
arrived he showed me an order from General Sher- 
man, directing him to organize a cavalry force of 
about two thousand five hundred men, and start 
as soon as possible from Decatur for the purpose of 
cutting the Salem Railroad anywhere outside of a 
hundred miles from Atlanta. 

"This," said General Rousseau, "will require a 
march of about three hundred miles. How many good 
men and horses can you furnish?" 

I replied, "I can furnish five hundred men and 
horses." General Rousseau then said, "I will be at 
Decatur on the ninth with two thousand men besides, 
and will organize the force so as to be ready to start 
on the tenth." 

I returned to Decatur, called a meeting of the 
officers and explained the project; said that I had 
promised five hundred good men and horses, and 
directed the officers of each company to make such 
selections as would aggregate that number. When the 
general arrived with two thousand men, my quota was 
added, and the entire command was divided into two 
brigades. 

Colonel Harrison of the Eighth Indiana cavalry 
was placed in command of our brigade and I was 
given the other. 

As I had no field officers of my regiment with 
me I was compelled to put the ranking captain, Wil- 
liam Stough, in command. 

We started on the morning of July loth and after 



132 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

a rapid march of three days it was found that quite 
a number of both horses and men of the command 
would be unable to stand the trip, and 300 horses and 
men were sent back to Decatur under command of 
Captain Daniels of Co. B. 

On reaching the Coosa river, we found a force of 
the enemy on the other side ready to dispute our 
passage. 

There was a field of green corn adjoining the 
road on that side and a small ferry boat fastened to 
the bank. 

Here we went into camp and in the night sent 
over some men to bring over the boat, and sent over 
Captain Gatch with 30 men who concealed themselves 
in the cornfield. In the morning when we were pre- 
paring to cross, a force of the enemy's cavalry came 
to dispute our passage. But Captain Gatch and his 
men were waiting for them and when in close reach 
opened a fire which reduced their force by one officer 
and twenty men and horses. And we crossed the 
river without opposition. But from that time on 
General Clanton with his cavalry force kept us un- 
pleasant company during our march. He would not 
stand for a fair fight but hung on our skirts capturing 
stragglers and forage parties. 

To avoid him we traveled mostly in the night, often 
changing directions to mislead him. We had no sup- 
plies except the men could find and quite a num- 
ber of stragglers, especially from the 9th O. V. C, 
which was the largest in the command. Captain 




Capt. a. p. Gatch, Co. "L. 




A. J. CuRREN (Left). 
Robert Sickinger (Right), 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. 133 

Stough had beeil a fine infantry officer but was nearly 
50 years old and although rather slow for the cavalry 
in his care, his men straggled and were captured. 
Irvin Dorn, my chief bugler, found whiskey, got drunk 
and went to sleep and was captured. His bugle fell 
into the hands of General Clanton. The General's 
widow returned it to me years afterwards and I still 
have it. 

Eight men of one of my companies left the ranks 
without leave, to find something to eat and were cap- 
tured and sent to Andersonville. 

A very interesting account of the affair was given 
by Comrade Daniel Moses of Co. K., one of the 
survivors, and read before the schools of Fremont, 
in which he gave a most vivid account of the suffering 
in Andersonville prison, an extract from which was 
sent in a letter to me for publication in this book. Con- 
ditions were such in my regiment that it became 
necessary that I should take direct command and 
General Rousseau felt it necessary to relieve me for 
that purpose. This was mortifying but conditions 
made it necessary. After that there was no more 
trouble. 

When we came to the Tallapoosa river which recent 
rains had swollen, although it was dark we could 
dimly see the water rushing along among large 
boulders almost covered. The head of the column 
halted, and when I came up the captain in the lead 
said he could not make out the ford. I rode to a 
cabin near by and woke up a negro to come and show 



134 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

US the ford. He was terribly frightened and said he 
could not tell where it was. I ordered him to put on 
his clothes and come quickly or it would be the worse 
for him. I put him on a strong horse, told him to 
start across and that I would keep close to him. He 
begged piteously, but I told him the boys would shoot 
him if he did not go. I then told the captain to follow 
us with his company, and to station men about fifty 
feet apart on the line of the ford. I let the negro 
see the gleam of my pistol, and we started, and slowly 
stemmed the rushing torrent, among the rocks until 
finally we struck the opposite bank; all got safely 
through except one poor darkey and his pack mule 
which were washed over a half submeiged boulder 
and disappeared under the flood ; and we were unable 
to rescue either of them. Ever after we referred to 
the crossing of that river in that night, with a shudder, 
for the thought of it was as unpleasant as that of any 
battle we were ever in. 

We passed on through a wild region, in which 
the city of Birmingham now stands, and on July 17th, 
reached the Salem Railroad at Lochapoka, twenty-five 
miles east of Montgomery, Alabama, at two o'clock 
in the morning. We slept by our horses in a strip 
of timber until daylight, and after finding some corn 
for our horses and making our breakfast ofif the forage 
of the day before, the column started toward Mont- 
gomery, Colonel Harrison's brigade in advance, the 
Ninth Ohio and the Sixth Kentucky Cavalry in the 
rear. 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. 135 

When we had gone about half a mile I found Gen- 
eral Rousseau sitting on his horse at the side of the 
road waiting for me. He said, ''I am going to destroy 
the road toward Montgomery and burn a large rail- 
road trestle six miles below here. You will turn your 
regiment and the Sixth Kentucky back to Lochapoka, 
and from that point tear up the railroad track toward 
Atlanta. Don't stop till you hear from me. If Clan- 
ton attacks you, fight him; if he is too much for you, 
fall back on me. But unless it becomes necessary, 
don't stop the work." 

I thanked the general for this evidence of his con- 
fidence and turned the head of my column toward At- 
lanta, a hundred miles distant. As I re-entered the 
village, I saw the head of General Clanton's column 
coming in at the other end. I ordered the buglers to 
sound the ''Charge" and the command dashed for- 
ward. The movement was a surprise which the enemy 
did not understand, and they fell back in confusion. 
I sent the Kentucky regiment after them while we 
halted and proceeded to organize our wrecking force. 

The railroad was built on the old plan with wooden 
stringers, six by eight inches and probably fifteen feet 
long, mortised into the ties and held in place by wooden 
wedges ; and on these stringers, iron straps one inch 
by two and a half inches were spiked. 

Half the entire command I placed on guard; and 
of each four men of the remainder, dismounted num- 
bers one, two and three for a working force, in- 



136 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

structed number four to follow closely with the 
horses. 

I arranged the men in working squads. Two men, 
placed in the lead with axes, which we had found in 
the village, drove out the wedges, and a sufficient num- 
ber following with hand spikes lifted and brought the 
timbers with the iron rails together in the center of 
the track; other squads gathered and piled on these 
all the ties, fence rails and other combustibles at hand ; 
others started fires and saw that it did its work. 

The duty assigned to the mounted force was to 
protect these working men, for which they were some- 
times needed in the front, sometimes at the rear, and 
again, at either side. Each of the men in charge of the 
horses kept as close to his working comrades as con- 
venient, so that in case of an attack in force, they all 
could quickly mount. At intervals the workers and the 
defenders changed places, and the work was rushed 
as fast as possible. 

The way led through a poor country thickly over- 
grown with bushes and scrub timber, through which 
it was difficult to handle cavalry or to watch their 
movements. Clanton was about us all day and oc- 
casionally tried to stop our work. Early in the day 
he made an attack from the front, which, however, we 
repulsed, and one of his men was left dead on th.e 
track. 

At noon we approached the town of Auburn, 
which we learned contained a confederate hospital, 
and a stock of commissary and quartermasters' sup- 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. 137 

plies. The negroes that came out to us, told us that 
there were soldiers in the town, and that the officers 
were arming everybody and getting ready to fight us. 
As yet we could see nothing of the town on account of 
the growth of brush, but when close to it, I stopped the 
work, mounted all the men, formed in lines as best I 
could, and ordered all the buglers along the line to 
sound the "Charge." The rush through the thickets 
could be better heard than seen. The men who had been 
collected to oppose us, broke on our first fire, and scat- 
tered in every direction. I then ordered the force 
back to resume the work, and I took possession of the 
store houses and proceeded to distribute the supplies 
among our men. These included clothing, underwear, 
shoes, tobacco and provisions. After the whole com- 
mand was supplied, I sent word to the citizens to come 
and help themselves to what they wanted. This 
changed the excitement. Women and children, white 
and black, came rushing to help themselves. A well 
dressed lady, that I noticed, came with a colored ser- 
vant, and pointed out some hams, which she ordered 
him to take to the house. "Haint got time. Missus, 
haint got time," replied the negro, eagerly grabbing 
what he wanted for himself. The lady then proceeded 
to help herself as the others were doing. 

About this time a whistle was heard in the distance, 
and I was told that a train of soldiers was coming 
from Atlanta. We had cut the wires in the morning 
to prevent the giving of information. I sent Captain 
Catch with his company ahead to learn and report the 



138 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

facts, and put the remainder of the men to barricading 
the streets. Tliis alarmed the negroes and women, 
who anxiously inquired if we were going to fight right 
there among them. I replied that it looked like it, but 
that they should not be alarmed ; if any of them were 
hurt it would be by their friends, not by us! Soon, 
however, a courier came from Captain Gatch to say 
that the train consisted of a locomotive and two cars, 
with men to repair the telegraph line, and that he had 
let them come on past him, and had then torn up 
the track behind them, and had captured the train. 

We set fire to the rebel storehouses and the 
railroad station, and proceeded with our work on the 
track. On reaching the train, we took the sledge ham- 
mers found there, broke up the breakable parts of 
the engine, and set fire to the cars. The men were 
treated kindly. 

The engineer came to me and said that he was 
from the North and had been running on the road 
when the war broke out ; that he was not in sympathy 
with the rebellion, but had no way of getting home. 
He would hke to stay with us, and would give us all 
the help he could. I asked him what state he was 
from. He replied, "Massachusetts", and I concluded 
from the way he "guessed" instead of "reckoned" 
that he was telling the truth. 

We continued the work of tearing up the track 
and twisting the rails until twelve o'clock that night, 
leaving a line of blazing light behind us as far as w^e 
could see. At midnight we had reached West Point 



Rousseau's raid. 139 

Junction, fifteen miles from Lochapoka, from which 
we had started in the morning. 

While seated on my horse among the men still 
working, I heard a voice inquiring for Colonel Ham- 
ilton. It was an aid from General Rousseau, who had 
sent him to find me, to present his compliments and 
say he wanted to see me. I asked where the general 
was, and he replied, "Back there among the men." 

When he saw me he called out, 

"Hamilton, are you going in to Atlanta tonight?" 

"I don't know," I answered, "my orders, as I un- 
derstand them, were to keep at work until I heard from 
you, and whether that would take me in to Atlanta or 
not I was not certain." 

"Well, sir," he said, "I want to thank you for 
your day's work. You have made this expedition a 
success. I saw a dead rebel or two by the road as I 
came. Did you have much trouble?" 

I told him I had had a skirmish or two. 

"Well, I will take pleasure in giving you and your 
command proper credit in my report. I was not very 
successful on the other end. When I reached the rail- 
road bridge I found it guarded by a company in a 
block house, and as I had no artillery, I could not 
dislodge them. Call oiT your men and let them sleep 
till morning. I see a house with a porch yonder, let us 
lie down and take a nap." 

This we did, lying on our saddle blankets with our 
saddles for pillows. 

Next morning, the 21st of July ('64) the entire 



140 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

command started northeast for our lines about At- 
lanta, and by night we reached the village of Lafayette. 
Rumors were thick that the enemy's troops were hunt- 
ing us. We found a little corn for our horses that 
night, but nothing for our own suppers. The men 
were ordered to keep their horses bridled, and to lie 
down beside them ready for an attack. Next morning 
we found some more corn for our horses, and after 
feeding, started again northeast to meet our friends. 

We traveled all that day (the 22nd of July) to the 
sound of the great battle in which McPherson was 
killed. In the afternoon we came upon a Union picket 
post — a lieutenant and a platoon of men all cleanly 
dressed in blue. They welcomed us with guns at a 
salute as we passed. My eyes filled as I returned it, 
and I thought them the handsomest men I ever saw. 
A feeling of restfulness came over me to which I 
had been a stranger for these thirteen days and nights. 

The day after our arrival, I felt myself unfit for 
duty, and lay in my tent all day, by advice of the 
surgeon — the only instance of this kind during my 
four years of service. 

The third day I received an order to report my 
regiment to General McCook, who had been ordered to 
make a raid south of Atlanta. This, I was told, would 
require an expedition of several days. I ordered the 
different companies to prepare for the trip as well as 
they could, and we started in column. But in the 
meantime I asked for the inspector of cavalry to ex- 
amine my command as to its fitness for such a duty. 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. I4I 

On his arrival, I rode with him along the column and 
told him of the character and extent of the service the 
regiment had performed, and after his inspection he 
reported its condition to General McCook. 

The general then directed me to proceed with his 
column along the river about ten miles to where the 
pontoon was being laid for him to cross, and to re- 
main there for two days, after which I was to take 
up the pontoon, and return with it to Vining Station, 
where I could go into camp and rest my command. 

The morning after our return, I went across the 
river to report to General Thomas. The battle of the 
22nd. of July had occurred in that vicinity, and the 
scene before me was disheartening. Broken wagons, 
dismounted artillery, dead horses and mules, and other 
debris of the battle strewed the ground as far as one 
could see. Trees here and there were shattered by 
cannon balls. Long ridges of freshly turned earth 
showed where soldiers had been buried side by side 
in one common trench. Skulking camp followers, and 
straggling soldiers completed the gruesome picture. 
The air was filled with a sickening stench. I was 
told by the stragglers that it had been a bad fight, 
and that we had got the worst of it. 

When I reached General Thomas's headquarters 
on the right beyond the battlefield, I found the general 
sitting on a camp stool in front of his tent in the shade 
of a canopy of green branches. He was in his shirt 
sleeves and his straw hat lay near him. 



142 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

After the formalities, in which I reported the re- 
turn of my regiment to his command, he invited me 
to a seat. I remarked upon the desolate appearance 
of the scenes I had passed, saying that it looked de- 
pressing. 

"Ah, well", said he, "It always does in the rear 
after a battle, but up at the front you will find the 
boys in the rifle pits cheerful, confident, and in good 
humor. It was a hard fought battle, and we lost Mc- 
Pherson, but the enemy failed in their purpose and got 
badly worsted." 

Presently a man rode up on an ill favored horse, 
with an old bridle, and a blanket for a saddle. He 
was barefoot, and coatless and wore an old straw hat. 
Dismounting, he saluted and asked, "Is this General 
Thomas?" At the general's reply, he continued, "I 
a^m Colonel Jim Brownlow of the First Tennessee 
Cavalry. I desire to apologize for my appearance by 
stating that I was with General McCook yesterday 
when we were attacked by a Tennessee rebel force. 
My regiment occupied the rear of the column and we 
were cut ofif. I ordered a charge, cut through their 
lines and made for the river, giving orders to cross. 
At the point we struck it, the bank was too high for 
the horses. I called to my men to leave them and 
take to the water. They are mountaineers and many 
of them could not swim, so I stripped to give what 
assistance I could. Though the enemy was firing on 
us, it was through a thicket of bushes that skirted the 



ROUSSEAU S RAID. 



143 



river, and most of us got across. I picked up this 
rig and came to report." 

The general said not a word until the colonel had 
finished then he asked, 

"What became of McCook?" 

The colonel replied, "He kept straight ahead. The 
Johnnies let him go and took after me." The gen- 
eral seemed satisfied, and asked the colonel what had 
become of his men. He answered. 

'T don't know where in the devil they are." 
^ "Yours is the First Tennessee Cavalry, you say", 
said the general. *T have no doubt they are around 
in the mountains somewhere. You go to the quarter- 
master and get a pair of shoes and some clothes, and 
have a good night's rest. Your mountaineers will all 
be back in the morning." 

A few years ago I told this story in Knoxville 
to the colonel's mother, the venerable and bright 
widow of "Parson Brownlow". She laughed and said 
naively, "Jim told me that same story and showed me 
the shoes that General Thomas gave him." Mrs. 
Brownlow died a year ago at the age of ninety-five, 
at Knoxville. 



CHAPTER i8. 

Preparing to Remount the Command. 

During the latter part of the Atlanta campaign the 
horses of the cavalry were badly used up by too much 
work and too little food, and I obtained an order to 
take four hundred of my men to Nashville and draw 
1, 600 horses for my own and other commands. 

September 21st I detailed four hundred men with 
their arms, and we proceeded in a train of box cars. 
About midnight, shortly after passing Big Shanty, a 
station in the mountains, we passed through a long 
deep cut, in which the top of the cars reached about 
to the level of the surrounding surface. In this cut, 
a force of rebels had placed an iron "frog" on the 
track, and the engine and a number of the forward 
cars were ditched. The rebels stood on the bank 
above the track and opened fire on the train. The 
cars were full of men, riding both inside and on top, 
mostly asleep. The officers were sleeping in a box 
car in the rear. The jolt and firing woke us. I 
pulled on my boots, which had been my pillow, and 
threw open the side door. The night was so dark 
that I could not see, but I climbed to the top of the 
cut, coming up near the rebels who were firing on the 
train. A number of the rear cars were still on the 
track, and the men on top were returning the rebels' 

(144) 




Sergt. J as. L. Gamble, 
Co. "G," 9th O. V. C. 



REMOUNTING THE COMMAND. 145 

fire. I saw, however, that they were firing too high, 
and called out, ''Ninth, Ohio, fire lower !" 

The boys responded with a yell, and I heard two 
or three call out, 'The colonel's out there, give it to 
'em boys!" A rebel near me overheard this, and 
shouted to his companions, "God, Boys, there's a whole 
regiment of 'em". And at that they all broke and ran. 
We found three of the cars wrecked, and a few of 
our men were badly hurt, some by the wreck, and 
some by the shots of the enemy. 

One of the boys had the flesh on his leg so torn 
in the wreck as to expose the bone from the knee to 
the ankle. The surgeon, Dr. Finch, was unable to 
dress the wound in the dark. He called for a light, 
but there was none to be found, until John Branden- 
burg of Company "L" came running up with some 
candles. He said he was the last one to leave the 
camp. Just as he was ready to start he noticed a 
bundle of candles and thought of taking them, then 
hesitated thinking the delay would probably cause him 
to miss the train. But something seemed to impel 
him to go back and gather them up, and with the 
bundle of candles under his arm he reached the train 
just as it was pulling out. 

Another of the injured was a boy about eighteen 
who had been lying on his back sound asleep on top 
of a car; evidently his lips had been closed, for a 
ball had crossed his mouth, and without touching 
his teeth, had cut both his upper and lower lips. I 

10 



146 RECOLLFXTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

consoled him by saying that this might get him a fur- 
lough to go home ; that his sweetheart would he glad 
to see him, and particularly interested in the rapid 
healing of his wound. 

A bullet passed through the sides of one of the 
cars and killed a colored cook who was lying asleep 
within. 

In the meantime the 'wrecked cars had taken fire, 
and by the light of these the surgeon was better able 
to dress the injuries of the wounded. 

We were detained two days before we could get 
another train to take us forward. Then we proceeded 
to Nashville, but finding no horses there, went on to 
Louisville where the government had a large corral 
of them bought especially for the cavalry. \A'e re- 
mained there fully a month, selecting and testing 
horses. Many of these, we learned, had been rejected 
more than once, but had been taken back and craftily 
doped and d,octored by the dealers until they looked 
good enough to be accepted. 

The magnitude of those brazen rascalities would 
make common swindling seem innocent pastime, for 
these grafters were defrauding the government and 
jeopardizing the lives of honest men, by furnishing 
drugged and worthless horses to be used against the 
splendid cavalry of the South. 

After a months' hard work assisted by the veter- 
inaries, we finally selected 1,600 horses, and with each 
man riding one and leading three, we started for 
Atlanta. 



REMOUNTING THE COMMAND. I47 

Nov. 2nd. On approaching Nashville I received 
despatches from that post directing me to come with 
all the horses as soon as possible, as Forrest, in the 
supposition that all the troops had gone to the front, 
was reported crossing the Tennessee river. I arrived 
that afternoon. 

Oct. 3rd. General Rousseau and General Steedman 
were at work arming the commissary and quartermas- 
ters' clerks, and all the available employees of the gov- 
ernment, and scouring the stables of the city for horses 
and saddles. We worked all night to equip my extra 
horses, which, with those that could be found in the 
city, gave us i,8oo cavalry. The improvised companies 
and other availables added another 1,200 of infantry. 
These men were armed and loaded into a hundred 
government wagons, and after 'breakfast the cavalcade 
started, my cavalry in the lead, General Steedman in 
command of the infantry following, and General 
Rousseau in command of both. It was a picturesque 
turn-out. The first day's march was more like a hilar- 
ious frolic than serious advance against the enemy. 
On the second, we found signs of the enemy; and the 
wagon contingent began to complain of the roughness 
of the road and wanted to quit. Our scouts reported 
the enemy retreating, and wagon contingent felt bet- 
ter. jWe were, as a matter of fact, not strong enough 
to meet Forrest in an open engagement. All we could 
do was to make a show such as would drive him back 
across the river. We finally came in sight of his rear 
guard which was re-crossing the river at the Shoals. 



148 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

They waved their hats at us as they reached the 
other side, and with considerable relief we greeted 
them in reply and started on our return to Nashville, 
and the campaign was ended and the glory ours. 

The only loss we suffered was that of a number of 
doped horses that I had drawn in Louisville, had 
given out and were returned to the post at Nashville 
as unserviceable. 

Nov. 13th, I then proceeded to Chattanooga, and 
on my arrival reported to the commandant of the post, 
who had a telegram from General Sherman for me to 
report with my command to General Kilpatrick in 
front of Atlanta. But ,1 was two days behind the time 
expected, and was told thalt I could not get through; 
that Sherman had started south, and the rebel army 
Vvas moving north ; that all supplies for forty miles this 
side of Atlanta had been brought to Chattanooga, and 
that a train was running night and day removing them 
out of Hood's reach. 

At Chattanooga I found a hundred and twenty of 
my regiment, who, on inspection, had been found un- 
fit for duty on Sherman's contemplated march, and 
had been sent back from Atlanta under command of 
Major James Irvine. This contingent became part of 
the force under General Thomas which defeated Gen- 
eral Hpod in the series of engagements ending at Nash- 
ville. After this they joined us at Savannah, com- 
ing by way of New York and the sea, and were with 
us on the return march through the Carolinas. 

Major Irvine said that the army was already mov- 



REMOUNTING THE COMMAND. 149 

ing and that our boys were anxiously looking for us 
with the horses. After making proper provision for 
the major and his men, I learned that the supply train 
above mentioned would start back for a load about 
four o'clock in the afternoon. 

I told the colonel in command ^of the post that I 
had determined to go through. He earnestly advised 
against the risk, but I started my mounted men for- 
ward under Lieutenant Colonel Stough, instructing 
him to follow the railroad and when he came to the 
last station to be reached by the train, to leave a 
company with my horse and push on without delay, 
that I would come by the train and overtake him. 

In the meantime Brigadier General Ben Harrison 
with his chief of stafif had arrived from, home from a 
leave of absence, and reported at headquarters on his 
way to Atlanta, inquiring at what time the train left. He 
learned from the commandant what the situation was, 
and that the train in removing the supplies would go 
only a'bout half way to Atlanta. He said that his 
brigade was with Sherman and that he must get to it. 
He was told there was no possiWe way ; but learning 
of my plans, he hunted me up and asked to go along. 
He said that his adjutant general was with him and 
had a wagon load of stuff from the sanitary com- 
mission for the boys ; that he would make a requisition 
for a wagon and team, and two saddle horses, if I 
w^ould furnish the protection. I told him if he were 
willing to take his chances with me, I would do the 



150 RECOLLECTIOXS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

best I could, and at four o'clock we started. About 
eleven o'clock the train stopped at Cass Station, and 
the conductor told us that he was to go no farther. 

My command had passed abjout an hour before. I 
found a captain and his company waiting with my 
horse; the general got his team and horses and we 
moved forward to overtake them. In less than an 
hour we came to a picket post, which I found to my 
surprise, to be composed of my men. I asked why 
they were there, and the corporal said that they had 
struck a rebel force and had a ''brush" ; that two of our 
men had been wounded, and the surgeon Dr Finch was 
dressing their injuries in a nearby house where we 
could see a light. The command was camped, just 
ahead. The surgeon brought forward the wounded 
men, and they were put on their horses. The lieuten- 
ant colonel reported that the enemy was camped not 
far away. We called in the pickets, mounted the 
men as quietly as possible, and moved out. 

By daylight we reached the Etowah river, distance 
about eighteen miles. The bridge had been burned and 
the bank was too steep for a wagon to pass, so that it 
was necessary to dig it down and throw in some brush 
and earth in order to make a way for General Harri- 
son's wagon. 

When we had gotten across, we met a courier from 
General Kilpatrick, with three scouts, who had been 
sent to find me. Their horses were all afoam, and they 
said they had been chased by some of Hood's cavalry. 



REMOUNTING THE COMMAND. 151 

The courier gave me a message from General Sher- 
man directing rne to report with my command to Gen- 
eral Kilpatrick in front of Atlanta. 

We reached the Chattahoochee river about three 
o'clock in the afternoon (November i6th), found a 
pontoon waiting for us, and we all crossed over. The 
pontoon was then taken up and sent forward. When 
he had gotten his wagon safely across, General Harri- 
son rode up and thanked me for the assistance I had 
given him, and with a formal salute, bade me "Good 
bye." And thus his chance for the presidency was 
saved ! 

I overtook our cavalry division and found the other 
half of my regiment that evening as they were going 
into camp and my extra horses were distributed as 
needed in the command. During my absence the part 
of the regiment remaining in command of Major 
Bolwus took a creditable part in the cavalry fight at 
Jonesboro, November 15th. 



CHAPTER 19. 

Sherman's Grand March. 

General Kilpatrick, to whom I had reported, was a 
young man, a graduate of the class of 1861 at West 
Point. He was of small stature, energetic and ambi- 
tious, a great talker, with a vocabulary which he did 
not learn at Sunday School, but was a dashing officer 
whose enthusiasm inspired his men. 

I was assigned to the second brigade commanded 
by Colonel Smith D. Atkins of the Ninety-second 
Illinois Mounted Infantry. This brigade was com- 
posed of the Ninety-second Illinois, the Ninth Mich- 
igan Cavalry, and the Ninth and Tenth Ohio Cavalry. 
The last named, it will be remembered, had been or- 
ganized in Cleveland at the time I was recruiting the 
Ninth and contained three of my companies, as they 
still claimed. It was commanded by Lieutenant Col- 
onel Sanderson, a deserving officer, who remained 
lieutenant colonel because the regiment's first office 
was still held by Colonel Smith of the regular army on 
detached service. The Ninety-second Illinois was 
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Van Buskirk ; the 
Ninth Michigan, by Colonel Acker. Lieutenant P. F. 
Swing of my regiment, and one of my best officers, 
was detailed on the staff of Colonel Atkins and re- 
mained a very efficient officer during the campaign. 

(152) 




Capt. p. F. Swing, Co. "F," 

For the Past Twenty Years a Prominent Jud^e in 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Sherman's grand march, etc. 153 

General Sherman had decided, after hearing the 
reports of the country, that it would take a strip of 
country forty miles wide to support his army in its 
march. His force was divided accordingly into four 
columns of 15,000 men each which marched by paral- 
lel routes ten miles apart. The position of the cavalry, 
consisting of 5,000 horsemen, by general orders, was 
to be at all times between the infantry and the enemy. 

For three days we encountered no opposition. On 
the fourth we saw the enemy was gathering in our 
path. The work of the cavalry then began; and'' it 
continued more or less actively, during the entire 
march, either by brigades, regiments, companies, or 
squads, as occasion required. 

Details had been made from the different infantry 
commands to forage throughout the country for sup- 
plies ; these ''bummers" became ubiquitous, — nothing 
could escape them in their ravenous hunt for some- 
thing to eat, from the finest flock of Cashmere sheep 
to a sitting hen and when horses or mules were found, 
they were captured to bring in the spoils. 

One evening I saw a jolly soldier coming to camp 
riding on a mule, with chickens hanging on one side, a 
ham of meat on the other, a bag of flour in front, a hen 
and oat sheaves tied behind. In one arm he hugged 
his hat full of honey comb, with the other he guided 
his mule, while, dragging behind was a slaughtered 
shoat with a rope through his nose and tied to the 
mule's tail. He was voted a premium by the company 
and mentioned for promotion! (by the boys). 



154 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

On one occasion while my regiment was in the 
advance, I came to a fine plantation house by the road. 
The owner, a dignified gentleman, was sitting in his 
shirt sleeves, on the porch ; while the "bummers" were 
gutting his house. Flour was scattered on the floor 
of the porch and in the front room, they were rushing 
through the house with hands full of cakes and pies, 
with mouths and faces smeared with preserves. I dis- 
mounted and drove them out, and apologized to the 
owner, regretting that he should be treated in such 
a manner. 

"Oh," said he, "I know what war is. This isn't 
the first time I've been raided. All I ask is that when 
you get into South Carolina, where I suppose you are 
going, you will treat them just the same way." 

This illustrates the feeling against South Carolina 
which had been so active in bringing on the war. 

On another occasion when my regiment was in the 
advance, as we came up to a house, the "bummers" 
were after the chickens. Just as I came up a soldier was 
chasing a rooster around the front porch. The chicken 
was almost fagged out and he was about to^ reach 
it with his sabre, when a woman very much excited, 
rushed to the porch and screamed out, "Let that 
chicken alone ; you dirty Yankee, it belongs to me. Let 
it alone, I tell you." And looking at me, called out, 
"Take your nasty Yankee thieves out of my yard and 
let my things alone. What business have you down 
here tearing up our country? Get these scoundrels 
out of here, I tell you. I hope God Almighty will kill 



SHERMAN'S GRAND MARCH, ETC. 155 

every one of you." "Well, madam," said I, "He is 
about the only one that can do it. But we are here to 
let you see what war is. You women of the South in 
your wild enthusiasm have been urging your young 
men to the battle field where men are being killed by 
the thousands, without remorse, while you stay at 
home and sing of the 'Bonnie Blue Flag.' But you 
set up a howl when you see these Yankees down here 
getting your chickens. Many of your young men have 
told us that they are tired of the war and would quit, 
but you women would shame them and drive them 
back." 

While talking, a small column of smoke was seen 
coming out of the roof of a barn across the road, filled 
with cotton. The woman gave a frightened look 
and asked in a more subdued manner, "Are you going 
to burn my cotton?" ''Yes", I replied. "Your gov- 
ernment claims your cotton to be shipped abroad 
and sold for money to carry on the war and we think 
it better to destroy the cotton than to let it be sold 
for that purpose." I left her with the advice to keep 
quiet and neither she nor her house would be injured. 

In order to impede our progress. Governor Brown 
of Georgia called out all the militia he could control, 
and wrote a strong letter to President Jefferson Davis, 
ordering the troops returned to the defense of the 
state, calling attention to his right under the Confed- 
erate Constitution to do so. Davis in his reply ad- 
mitted the constitutional right, but declined to return 
the troops because they were needed at the confeder- 



156 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

ate capital, and "necessity", as he said " is above law." 
This correspondence was published in the Georgia 
newspapers; an evidence of the absurdity of "States 
Rights" for which the South was fighting, and it was 
greatly enjoyed in our camps. 

Nov. 22d. The only considerable battle our in- 
fantry had was fought by the command of General 
Charles C. Walcutt, of Columbus, Ohio, against the 
gathered forces of Governor Brown's militia. I was 
marching to the left of Walcutt's brigade about a 
mile away, and halted ; expecting to be sent for ; but 
the attacking force was repulsed without need of 
assistance. 

As the army progressed southward, corduroy roads 
through the cypress swamps had frequently to be con- 
structed by the pioneer corps to enable the army to 
pass through. This was a slow process, which the 
enemy took advantage of by lying in ambush until a 
considerable part of the command had crossed, then 
making a cavalry dash upon the rear. 

It was our business to prevent this and to hold 
them back. One day I was guarding the rear of Gen- 
eral Jefiferson C. Davis' command, the Fourteenth 
Corps, as he was passing through one of these swamps 
on a long corduroy road. The enemy had gathered 
for trouble. There was a cleared field adjoining the 
swamp, but an open thicket of scrub oak surrounded 
the field. The rear and the wagons occupied the field 
while the troops went through. My regiment occupied 
the scrub timber outside of which the enemy was 



SHERMAN S GRAND MARCH, ETC. 1 57 

massing. A squad of dismounted Ninety-second Illinois 
Regiment with the Spencer carbines was stationed in 
the brush near the mouth of the corduroy road. When 
the wagon train began to move the Johnnies undertook 
to make a capture, but were held back until all the 
train had started through. The enemy had not yet 
been able to advance beyond the scrub timber and I 
sent the ist. Battalion, under command of Major Mc- 
Cumber, to follow the train; then the second, under 
command of Major Bowlus; holding the enemy as 
best I could with the third. The enemy again made 
an advance but the last battalion still held them in 
check, assisted by the squad in the brush with their 
Spencer carbines. 

I finally ordered three of my companies, one at a 
time, to take the road while the fourth kept up a fire. 
At last the enemy crowded us too much, and I or- 
dered the men to break for the corduroy road, every 
man for himself ; and a rush was made. A company 
of the enemy rushed in from the right, firing as they 
came and yelling, ''Run, you damned Yankees, we've 
got you." We ran, but one of my men was mounted 
on a mule and fell behind. When the mule heard the 
noise in the rear he stopped — looked around at the 
advancing horsemen and began to He Haw. His rider 
kicked and whipped but to no effect. I rode up and 
told him to jump and run, which he did, saying feel- 
ingly as he threw himself off, "Damn a mule anyway." 
The fact is, our business seemed to regard that kind 
of language as a prayer rather than profanity. I told 



158 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

him to take hold of my stirrup and keep up and with- 
out any harm we made good time together under the 
range of the Spencer guns till we reached the timber. 
Here we found a corps of pioneers cutting trees. 
They were working in their shirt sleeves two men to 
a tree, and had them more than half cut through. 
These were soon thrown across the road as we passed 
and we were safe. 

On November 24th ('64) the cavalry division 
marched from the west, or right flank of the army, 
to the east, or left flank, as it was thought that troops 
had been sent from Richmond against Sherman's 
columns. 

It was learned that General Hampton had arrived 
from Richmond with two brigades of cavalry, and 
had joined General Wheeler. A determined opposi- 
tion to our advance now began. 

On November 28th our brigade went into camp in 
a body of timber. The enemy had been following us 
as usual and camped not far in our rear. At two 
o'clock A. M. we received orders to move out quietly, 
the Ninth Ohio Cavalry in the rear. 

The enemy however discovered the movement and 
opened on us with artillery. My regiment, being the 
last to move, the men had to sit quietly on their horses 
in the woods while cannon balls and bursting shells 
played havoc with the trees above them, cutting ofif 
limbs which fell in the darkness around them, produc- 
ing a feeling of horror and helplessness worse than an 
open battle could create. The firing, however, was at 



SHERMANS GRAND MARCH, ETC. 159 

random and in the dark, and no serious damage was 
done except to the trees. The next day we moved 
forward pressed by the enemy with unusual vigor. 

When the cavalry division reached Buckhead 
Creek, General Kilpatrick placed the Fifth Ohio Cav- 
alry armed with Spencer repeating rifles in position 
with the artillery to keep the enemy occupied while the 
division crossed the bridge, which was then destroyed. 

Beyond this bridge, General Kilpatrick decided to 
make a stand and took a well chosen position on a plan- 
tation about two miles from the crossing. Murray's 
brigade was placed on the right, and Aitkins' brigade 
on the left. The Ninth Ohio Cavalry with a section 
of artillery, was on the extreme left of the latter brig- 
ade. Our horses had been tethered in a strip of wood 
in our rear. The men took position behind a barri- 
cade consisting of a fence built three rails high, on 
which other rails were laid, one end resting on the 
ground toward the enemy, the other on the fence. 

The usual orders were given to throw out a skirmish 
line from two to three hundred yards in front of our 
position. The space between the brigade line and 
Buckhead Creek contained some brush and timber, 
but in front of my position there was a clear field slop- 
ing to the creek. 

When all had been made ready, the Fifth Ohio 
Cavalry was withdrawn, and soon the enemy crossed 
the creek and were plainly seen forming in line for a 
charge. A skirmish line in our case, although ordered, 
was more of an obstruction than a benefit. So I di- 



l6o RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

rected the lieutenant of skirmishers to place his men 
prone upon the ground not over a hundred and fifty 
yards in front of the line; to hold his fire until the 
enemy got well within reach, then rise and fire one 
volley and fall back to our line as fast as possible in 
order to clear the way for the artillery and line fire. 
They executed this order with their accustomed bra- 
very and with good effect. The men of the Ninth were 
not armed with Spencer repeating rifles, but with 
breech loading Burnside carbines. The guns of my 
section of artillery were loaded with grape sho't. 

When the order to fire was given, the cannon and 
the carbines opened with a roar that was terrific. 
When the smoke permitted the effect was apparent, 
wounded men and horses floundering; but the ad- 
vance continued, and they received the second volley 
within a hundred yards of our barricade. My men 
were cool and deliberate, for they felt that the charge 
would fail at the rail barricade. A third volley dis- 
organized the enemy and they fell back in confusion, 
every man for himself. 

They rallied in the distance, however, and pres- 
ently an officer mounted on a beautiful gray horse 
started forward with a battalion, evidently intending 
to get around ,our left flank. It 'was a daring and 
splendid effort and a fine sight. He rode ahead of 
his men, waving his sword and shouting encourage- 
ment. Artillery and carbines were instantly trained 
on them. They hesitated and some of them fell back. 
The others, also, wavered, and another volley from our 



SHERMAN'S GRAND MARCH, ETC. j^j 

carbines turned them back. The officer tried to rally 
his men, and as he turned toward them, private Toole 
of ,the Ninth Ohio, a former British soldier and a 
capital shot, said to me, "Colonel, shall I take him?" 

I hesitated, but it was war, and I told him he might 
try. Several of the other boys heard what was said, 
and saddles 'were emptied by the shots that followed' 
I sa'w the ,gray horse stumble and the head of his 
gallant rider sink foi^ward on his breast— and they 
both went down together. His daring attempt was a 
failure. But a feeling of sorrow came over me to 
see that brave man fall. 

The attempt to flank us was not renewed, and the 
attack failed all along our line. Such was General 
Hampton's introduction to our cavalry of the West 
It was learned that they had lost in killed and wounded 
nearly 300 men. 



11 



CHAPTER 20. 
Battle of Waynesboro. 

On Sunday morning, December 5th., our cavalry 
division received orders to attack the rebel force under 
Wheeler and Hampton located near Waynesboro. 

We moved out in column of regiments. The Fifth 
O. V. Cavalry on the right, the Ninth O. V. Cavalry 
on the left, the Tenth O. V. Cavalry, the Ninth Mich- 
igan and the Ninety-second Illinois Mounted Infantry 
in the center. The enemy fell back slowly until they 
reached the line of barricades which they had thrown 
up along a body of timber during the night. 

This was Sunday morning; the day was calm and 
beautiful. The sun was shining, birds were singing 
and all Nature seemed at rest. I thought of the good 
folks at home on their way to church. After a while 
orders came, "Column into line." I formed my regi- 
ment accordingly as provided by the army regula- 
tions, — fighting men in front with the flag in the cen- 
ter, line officers in proper place under direction of the 
field officers, each behind his battalion, while I and 
the chief surgeon, Dr. Finch, occupied the rear and 
center in this holiday display. 

As we passed a strip of timber we saw the enemy 
hi line waiting for us. As we approached they opened 

(162) 



BATTLE OF WAYNESBORO. 163 

a Straggling fire; bullets begun to fall near us, and I 
remarked to the doctor that we seemed to be in more 
danger than the men in line. Soon a staflf officer came 
at full gallop, saluted and said, "Colonel Atkins pre- 
sents his compliments and directs that you charge the 
enemy's line at once." 

I ordered my bugler to sound the charge. This 
was repeated by the company buglers. The companies 
began to move in an awkward, irregular line, looking 
back for me. I remarked to the doctor that the regula- 
tions were better for a parade than for a fight, and, 
giving spur to my black horse, he dashed through the 
line with his usual spirit. Waving my hat, I called, 
*'come on, boys." A shout went up all along the line, 
and the glitter of their sabres following the fire of 
their carbines showed the mettle of the men, when the 
charge was on. 

A squad of officers in my front looked on with 
less dread than I liked to see, but my horse would not 
slack his pace. I tried to cover them with my pistol, 
and fired twice. (I never fired but four shots at the 
enemy during the war and feel thankful to believe 
1 never killed anybody.) The officers turned and left 
our front and soon led in a retreat, for our entire 
brigade was on them. 

During the charge that broke the enemy's line 
I came up to a horse in his death struggle, 
and lying at the foot of a tree near by was a young 
Confederate soldier, shot in the head, but still breath- 
ing. His youthful appearance disturbed me as I 



164 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

passed, and when the battle was over I returned and 
found him. He was not more than seventeen years 
old and very neatly dressed. I noticed a tooth brush 
in his pocket (unusual for a soldier). I dismounted. 
He was dead ; but his handsome form was still warm. 
I kneeled on one knee beside him and laid back his 
hair and found that a ball had reached his brain. 
Something was the matter with my eyes as I looked 
on that innocent boy and remembered my young 
brother who fell a year before, and thought that 
another mother's heart would soon be breaking. 

We drove the enemy through the town toward 
Buckhead Creek. When we were firing supported 
by the Ninth Michigan and the Tenth Ohio, Kilpat- 
rick ordered a halt, much to the disappointment of 
the men, as it was thought that twenty minutes more 
would have given us about five hundred prisoners. 
Not many of our men were killed in this charge. 
None in my regiment, although we had a few 
wounded. In a cavalry fight there is not much danger 
as long as one can see the tails of the enemy's horses ! 

I think it proper to say that my memory as to some 
of the dates in this march is refreshed by an account 
written by a committee of the Ninety-second Illinois 
Regiment appointed shortly after the war, to chronicle 
the doings, especially of their regiment, in Sherman's 
Gfand March. 

On December 8th, after the battle of Waynesboro, 
it is there reported that the command began the march 
at 2 o'clock A. M., the Ninth Ohio Cavalry holding 



BATTLE OF WAYNESBORO. 1 65 

the rear. At daylight the enemy showed considerable 
spirited dash, constantly attacking the rear guard. 
The country was generally level and sandy, with 
streams crossing the wood and emptying into the 
Savannah river. These streams always had swamps 
on each side of them filled with dense growth of black 
gum. Neither animal nor wagon could get through 
these swamps except on corduroy roads. 

We slept when and how we could. I remember that 
when sleeping one night under my poncho I dreamed 
1 was in swimming. When I awoke found it had 
been raining and I was lying in about two inches of 
water, and had no other clothes at hand. 

ATTEMPT TO LIBERATE THE PRISONERS AT MILLEN 

PRISON. 

Most of the country thus far had been fine, and 
the weather delightful. Cattle, hogs, sheep, chickens, 
turkeys, hams, sweet potatoes and peanuts were found 
in abundance. 

General Kilpatrick decided to make a forced march 
ahead in an attempt to liberate the Union prisoners at 
IVIillen. In approaching the town from the west side 
of the river, we were received by a serenade from 
three batteries of heavy artillery stationed on the op- 
posite side of the river, while the last of the prisoners 
were being stowed into box cars and sent to other 
prisons. 

Kilpatrick decided to return toward Louisville 
leaving me to tear up the railroad approaching the 



1 66 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

town on our side of the river. We began the work 
about a mile distant from the town. A battery opened 
on us as we began work, and eighteen pound solid 
shot began to sing over our heads, but I called to the 
boys, 'Tay no attention to the shots. They can't hit 
us." Soon a ball came ricocheting along the track 
toward where I was standing. It was plainly seen, 
and I left the grade in lively style, for which I received 
the laughing cheer of the boys. 

Sherman's destination was still a mystery to the 
enemy. For some days he remained quiet, seemingly 
waiting to concentrate his forces. General Beard's 
Division began to move toward Augusta; Atkin's 
Cavalry Brigade moving on the right flank. Colonel 
Murray's Cavalry Brigade on the left, and for two 
days this line of march was kept up with flags and 
cavalry guidons flying. This was a grand sight, but 
it was a feint. While the enemy's force was gathering 
to defend Augusta, Sherman's way was opened for 
his march on Savannah. 

The desolation produced is almost inconceivable 
it was begun by the enemy themselves. The inhab- 
itants had nearly all fled leaving the helpless colored 
people who had no where to go. 

Part of the rebel troops went before us destroying 
what they could not use in an effort to starve us, and 
creating a panic among the inhabitants by telling them 
to flee, for the Yankees were coming. Much of the 
fighting was done among the foragers from each side. 

One evening half of a nice, well-cooked turkey 



BATTLE OF WAYNESBORO. 1 67 

was brought to my quarters. I asked the boys where 
they got it. They said, "We ran into a squad of John- 
nies who were cooking it in a house. We ran them off 
and continued the cooking. Soon they came back with 
more help and retook it. We Ht out but came back 
with reinforcements and when the fight was over the 
turkey was ''done cooked." This is a piece of it." 

Fires from burning bridges and buildings filled 
with cotton had marked the pathway of our different 
columns. For sixty miles before we reached the sea 
the country was sterile and full of swamps, providing 
but little to support animal life. To provide for this 
Sherman had given orders tor fill wagons with corn 
when it could be found, to gather up the cattle and 
drive them along for food. In passing through the 
swamps some of the hungry cattle would venture out 
for something green to eat, and through weakness 
some would sink in the mud and drown. Next day 
I saw hungry soldiers perched upon their dead bodies 
cutting chunks of meat to be broiled on sticks for 
their supper at night. I have seen old colored camp 
followers lying by the road suffering from starvation 
and the boys had nothing to give them. It was surely 
from scenes like these that Sherman was inspired to 
declare the terrible truth that ''War is Hell." 



CHAPTER 21. 
Siege of Savannah. 

The army has arrived in front of Savannah and 
the work of the cavalry is over. It was a glorious 
thing to see our great floating sqiiadron lying quietly 
in the bay in full sight, loaded with much needed sup- 
plies which it was waiting to furnish us, while the 
great folds of the Stars and Stripes from the mast 
heads gave us a welcome in the name of an exultant 
nation. 

A camp was selected on the Savannah river, about 
three miles above the city, on a large plantation known 
as the Stockton place. It belonged to a very prom- 
inent family of that name, which included Commodore 
Stockton of the Old Navy. It embraced a large island 
devoted to the culture of rice and known as Hog Is- 
land. At this time the rice was unthreshed and was 
found in large stacks resembling sheaf oats. There 
was also a large mill for hulling the rice. I was 
camped with my regiment behind the infantry on this 
plantation. 

In taking possession I found the fine housei de- 
serted, the family having fled at the approach of the 
Yankees, and the premises occupied by Yankee sol- 
diers and a swarm of darkies. The costliest furniture 

(168) 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 1 69 

and household adornments were strewn about the place 
by the soldier vandals. I saw an elegant piano out of 
doors already split into firewood. 

I was disgusted with the sight of such vandalism, 
but was told to take a look at the premises, I was 
shown a stone jail with iron barred windows and 
strong locks for the doors. Handcuffs and other ap- 
pliances for punishment were hung around the walls. 
Another building resembled a school room with 
benches, and a large desk at one end. This was, 
in reality, a plantation court room. Upon inquiry I 
was told that the plantation had been practically an 
independent municipality, forming and executing its 
own laws. The subjects of the law were the planta- 
tion slaves, said to number nearly a thousand of all 
ages ; the owner and overseers were the officers of 
the court. It was the knowledge of this fact, received 
in part from the darkies, that prompted the vandalism. 

While we were in camp on this plantation, forag- 
ing parties from both armies were sent on to Hog 
Island, as the enemy held the other side of the river. 
Comrade Clark E. Calligan of Co. H. 9th. O. V. C. 
now living in Chicago, furnishes the following inci- 
dent, which is corroborated by John Brandenburg and 
others, who give other incidents occurring at the time 
we were located there. 

**^A party from our regiment under Lieutenant 
Briner of Company 'H' went to a rice mill near camp 
where we left our horses, and getting a large eight 



170 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

oared boat, rowed over to the island. Irrigating 
•canals had been cut through it, which, through the in- 
fluence of the tides, made it peculiarly valuable for rice 
culture. In one o'f these canals we crossed the island ; 
then pushed through the river to the South Carolina 
side to see what we could find. Here we left our boat 
and a guard. The night had been dark, but by the 
time we had gone a mile or so back from the river it 
was getting light and we found some sheep. Just 
as we had finished dressing the first one, the rebels 
fi'red land we had a skirmish which brought help from 
some other foragers. The rebels left and we loaded 
the mutton into the boat and started back. As the 
tide was low we had to go around Hog Island and 
the big guns from Savannah opened on us and the 
shells or balls could be seen skipping on the water 
toward us. But we put all our strength to the oars 
and arrived safely at the rice mill. Seeing that the 
enemy was beginning to gather here, we mounted and 
rode back to camp only to find that the cavalry had 
eone. There was no one to direot us and we wandered 
around for iseveral days be'f ore finding the camp which 
had moved to the seaboard near Ft. McCallister." 

These skirmishes were of frequent occurrence dur- 
ing the siege. 

Dec. 17. I received an order to proceed about 
thirty miles down the coast to destroy a long trestle 
over the Altamaha river. We encamped for the night 
in a grove on a large plantation near the coast. A 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 17^ 

fine, white frame house was standing empty, but there 
was plenty of corn in the crib and bacon in the smoke- 
house. 

In the meantime an intelligent old colored man 
came to me and asked if he could gather up the corn 
that our horses might leave. I asked where he lived. 
He pointed to a row of cabins, saying he and his peo- 
ple lived there, and that he had charge of things on 
the plantation since his master and his family had 
left. I asked where they had gone. He said he didn't 
exactly know, somewhere away from the Yankees. I 
told him that he might have the corn we left. He then 
said that some of the boys had lost their blankets and 
as the night was cold they had taken some from him. 
He wondered if he might get them back in the morn- 
ing. I told him he should have them back. 
''Were the boys rough with you?" I asked. 
"Oh, no sah, but cle night wus too cold to sleep 
out an' we'ens had a house to sleep in, an' I wus glad 
to help de boys whut I could. We be'n lookin' fo' 
you ian' prayin' fo' you to come fo' a long time, an' 
now we know dat de good Lawd an' Massa Linkum 
hab sent you." 

"But what good do you think all this is going to 

bring to you?" 

Looking up with trusting affection to the Nation's 

emblem on my shoulders, he said, 

"Ah, Massa, dah's freedom whar de eagle flies." 
The eloquence of that reply, so unlooked for by us 

but so striking and so true, brought sympathetic tears 



172 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

to more eyes than mine. I asked him how old he was. 
He said he was eighty-two. I said he was too old to 
expect much from the Lord and Massa Lincoln. 

''It's not fo' myself I be'n prayin' excep'n to 
die free. My Massa ben' good to me all my life. We 
wits the same age an' we growed u^p as boys togedder. 
He tuk me fo' his body serbant an' I wus nevah 
whipped onct. When he married Missus, I married 
Jane an' ouah chillun growed up togedder. Now we 
both hab gran chillun all hab been kin'ly treated and 
well cared fo'. But I 'spec' we'll soon both be in 
Hebben togedder. Fo' years I be'n wonderin' whut 
would happen to ouah chillun then. They alls too 
many to be kep' togedder. I knowed mine would be 
sold an' I dreamed J saw 'em workin' on de sugah 
plantations fahaway, undah de whip of a cruel over- 
seah. But t'anks to de Lawd and Massa Linkum's 
eagles I know now dat will nevah be." I wiped my 
eyes and with a feeling of reverence ordered the men 
to mount. 

After destroying , the bridge and trestle on the Al- 
tamaha river we returned and went into camp ten 
miles below the city on the bay near Ft. McCallister. 
During the siege this fort had been ;the only obstruc- 
tion between us and our floating supplies. For four 
years it had bid defiance to our navy. It was strongly 
built and furnished with heavy artillery toward the 
sea, but was never expected to repel an attack from 
landward. Its defence from that quarter had evi- 
dently been increased but not enough to withstand 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 1 73 

the impetuous charge of General H'azen's Brigade- 
mostly Ohio men — made December 12th, 1864. 
I Here we found our fleet anchored near the coast 
and ''Lighters" engaged in hringing abundant sup- 
plies to shore for us. 

I now had a call from Lieutenant Still well of the 
Navy, who had command of one of the vessels. He 
was the son of Judge Stillwell of Zanesville and had 
a ^brother in my command. He was dressed in a nice 
clean naval uniform, in m-arked contrast to my ap- 
pearance in a dirty, w(orn-out colonel's uniform, with 
gray shirt, old hat and boots. The contrast was too 
much and with some embarrassment I began to 
apologize. He took my profifered hand, saying, *'None 
of that, my dear Oolonel, none of that. We should 
take ofif our hats to you. You have split the confed- 
eracy in two, while we were waiting, and it is falling 
apart." 

The m.en got a rest of a few days in camp during 
•which they were ordered to do their washing and get 
themselves ready for the paymaster. 

The surroundings here were entirely new. Among 
other strange things they found piles of fresh oyster 
shells which had evidently furnished oysters for some 
of the Southern troops. Encrusted on the large shells 
our men found smaller ones in which were still living 
oysters. These were eaten with relish. 

There was plenty of water in a lagoon near 
by and one of the bays took his gun and a bucket tb 
get some. Soon a shot wias fired, which was against 



174 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

orders, and a corporal ran out to isee ,what the trouble 
was. He found that the boy had got mixed up with 
an alligator which had been lying on the edge of 
the water. Thinking it was ,an old log, the boy had 
put his foot on its back while he filled his bucket. As 
the beast moved off he jumped back and put a bullet 
in him and was trying to head him off from getting 
into deep water. A rope was brought and got over 
his nose and he was .pulled out and dragged in triumph 
into camp, grunting like a hog. He was found tO' be 
nearly seven feet long, but was not considered suitable 
for a pet. 

Altogether it was a new experience for these 
Buckeye boys. They had taken an honorable part in 
one of the most daring and brilliant campaigns in 
history, and after a march of three hundred miles 
through the enemy's country, sweeping all opposition 
before them, now found themselves encamped by the 
sea, washing their dirty clothes, — in stagnant water 
with fresh oysters in the shells on ,one side, and 
fresh alligators in the swamp, on the other. 

In the meantime the paymaster made his appear- 
ance and the army was paid off before their advance 
into the Carolinas. 

January 25th, 1865, I was ordered up the Savan- 
nah river into camp at Sister's Ferry, sixty miles from 
Savannah, and received orders to be ready to cross 
the river on February 3rd. In the meantime a steam- 
boat brought up a load of oats in bushel sacks which 
was unloaded on an island for the horses of the com- 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 1 75 

mands which were to cross there on a pontoon bridge 
laid for that purpose, as other commands were 
arriving. 

The morning was wet and I heard some of the 
boys calling. "Come out of that hat ! I know you're 
there, I see your legs dangling down." I looked and 
saw a civilian on horseback dressed in black with a 
"plug" hat and an umbrella. On his approach 
I was surprised to see Rev. Dr. William King, an 
old neighbor of ours when we were country boys 
together, and afterwards classmates at college. He 
was then President of Cornell College in Iowa. As 
he rode up and dismounted, I expressed my surprise 
and pleasure at meeting him and asked particularly if 
'he came to join my command. "Not exactly," he 
said, seating himself on a ca'mp stool. "You know 
I am trying to run a college up in Iowa and we are 
hard up for funds and as I heard the army had re- 
ceived ,six months' pay recently I came down think- 
ing that I might raise some funds for my college. 
"'I am glad to see you, Will," I said, "I hope you 
will stay with us a while. I want to give you a sight 
of what a soldier's life is, for which they receive 
$13 a month. I have a number of boys who left col- 
lege to do what they could to save the country, and if 
their lives are spared they expect to go back and enter 
college again and prepare themselves for civil life. 
Others are looking forw^ard to a busmess life. I have 
urged them every pay day to send their money home, 
as they would need it to begin their life work in 



176 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

•coinpetiitiion with the men who, inetead of helping to 
put down 'the rebehioin, stayed at home ^nd have 
been making money 'hand over fist' during the in- 
flated business conditions which the war has pro- 
duced. On the last pay-day I carried twelve miles 
to a railroad $20,000 of boys money and ex- 
pressed the different packages, with letters to their 
folks at hom,e, that the money may be put on interest 
for them against their return. "Don't you think, look- 
ing at all this, that it is a little hard for these boys to 
divide the meager pittance they get, to support boys 
in college who might have been in the ranks here? 
''But", I said, "suppose you stay a day or so with me 
and see how you like it." Said he, "where will you 
stay tonight?" "I don't know, but we will find a 
place. It may be at the root of a tree somewhere", 
on the South Carolina side and we expect to have it 
lively over there. He thought, however, that he would 
take a look among the infantry. 

The hour arrived and I gave the order to move. 
The pontoon had been extended to the island and from 
there to the opposite shore. The oats in bushel sacks 
were unloaded and the advance column crossed, each 
man taking a sack of oats. 

On the other side an old narrow corduroy road 
stretched for three miles through a low savanna. This 
road became iso (broken by the artillery that the mules 
in the baggage train were worn out and the wagon 
master camie forward and reported that they refused 
to pull. I went back and found mud holes in the 



SIEGE OF SAVANNAH. 1 77 

broken road nearly filled with sacks which the boys 
had let fall in their efforts to get their horses past. 
The mules were too tired to pull, and I ordered the 
battalion forming the rear guard to dismount, feed the 
horses out of their sacks, then sit down on the sacks 
with the bridle reins over their arms and try to get 
some sleep till morning. I gave the same instructions 
to the teamsters, and went forward to where the ad- 
vance had reached higher ground and directed the 
men to make themselves as comfortable as they could. 
I then found two rails and placed them slanting up 
against a cypress root to keep me out of the mud ; 
put my saddle across the upper end of the rails, 
spread my horse blanket over them, threw one leg 
across each, and spread my oil cloth over me to pro- 
tect me as much as it would from the fallino- rain. 

o 

I went to sleep, only regretting that my old friend, 
the college president, was not sleeping beside me. 



la 



CHAPTER 22. 
Descent on South Carolina. 

Next morning the mules were in better humor and 
we got everything safely landed in South Carolina. 

After some skirmishing with the enemy we pro- 
ceeded about fifteen miles to the town of Barnwell, 
the county seat of Barnwell County. It was composed 
chiefly of the beautiful homes of planters whose cot- 
ton plantations were located in the country in charge 
of overseers. The town contained fine churches, 
school houses and other public buildings and the 
streets were lined with majestic trees. 

February 6th on approaching the suburbs I noticed 
a crowd of women, my lieutenant in charge of 
the advance was halted by a committee of ladies who 
addressed him. I saw him point back to the head of 
the column and pass on. When we came up some 
of them asked if I commanded these troops. She 
then asked if I was a Mason. I told her I was not. 
She asked if any of my officers were. I inquired why 
she asked. She replied that they were the wives of 
Masons and had been instructed that when the 
"Yanks" came (with a sneer on the term) they were 
to inquire for the Masons, who would protect them. 
"Where are your husbands?" I asked. 

(178) 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. 1/9 

''With General Hampton", they repHed. 

''Well," said I. "1 am not a Mason, but if there 
are any ]\Iasons in my command they will not ignore 
their sworn duty to the government by reason of their 
masonry. We may not be Masons but we are gentle- 
men and you may depend upon it that you will be 
treated as gentlemen always treat ladies." 

The command went into quarters on the edge of 
this town of Barnwell. My quartermaster selected a 
house for headquarters. When I and my stafif came 
up we found the family very much alarmed and ex- 
cited. The mother said none of the family were at 
home except herself and two daughters with the ser- 
vants. The house was large and I told her we would 
confine ourselves to one room and give her no trouble. 
This was recluctantly agreed to. The company officers 
looked after the pitching of their tents and other 
duties as usual. Strong pickets were properly distri- 
buted and guards placed at different points through 
the town with the usual orders. 

We went to our headquarters and found supper 
ready. The staff was composed of pleasant young 
officers who had somewhat allayed the fears of the 
lady and her daughters. I did what I could to assist, 
and after a while all parties felt more comfortable. 

My attention was called to a house across the street 
from which the furniture and other valuables were be- 
ing removed and piled up on a vacant lot near by. I in- 
quired of our hostess what that was for, and was told 



l8o RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

that the woman who owned it believed we would burn 
her house, and although an invalid, she was helping the 
servants in the work. I at once went over to assure 
her that nothing of, the kind was intended, but she 
rebuffed me vindictively, calling the Yankees a set 
of vandals, and saying she didn't believe a word I 
said. She could get only her women to help her and 
was tugging with them at the work. **Now," said I, 
''Madam, if you are determined to do this I will have 
a detail of men do the work for you. They will pile 
the furniture under your direction and in the morning 
before we leave, will put the things back as you wish. I 
made the detail and had thev work done, while she 
watched that they did not steal anything, and next 
morning we put the furniture back as I had promised. 

The history of the Ninety-second Illinois gives an 
account of the burning of cotton and the destruction of 
other property in this town. But we spent a very 
pleasant evening across the way. In becoming better 
acquainted their fear left them and the young ladies 
proposed cards, which were brought, and a lively 
evening was passed during which their troubles were 
forgotten. 

When we left next morning they asked for our 
address in Ohio, and after the war I received a letter 
from this lady, thanking me for all the kindness we 
showed them, but saying that the result of the war 
they had been ruined financially. They had heard 
contributions were being made in the North for South- 
ern needs and it had occurred to her that perhaps 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. l8l 

we might help her. ''What we most need," she said, 
-is blankets and clothing of any kind. We have no 

pride left." . 

I procured a large chest which our good neigh- 
bors, the ladies of Putnam, Ohio, joined in filhng with 
things we thought most needed. This was prompt y 
forwarded to assist in their relief, and was thankfully 

received. , 

Sherman's campaign in South Garolma was a rad- 
ical one. He ''had it in" for that "hot bed of rebel- 
lion " In passing through that state his restrictions 
were somewhat relaxed, and his infantry, followmg 
the cavalry emphasized the spirit of the orders he 
issued. In telling my men of the orders I added that 
they should never forget that a true soldier is by 
nature a gentleman. 

The war storms which the people of South Caro- 
lina had themselves encouraged and on which they 
had looked for three years at a distance, came on 
them like an avalanche at last. Kilpatrick's full 
division united to sweep through the west and tear 
up the railroad, while the infantry burned the cotton 
in the east. All this combined to change the condition 

of the state. 

On the 8th. of February the cavalry began to de- 
stroy the railroad at Blackwell, sixty miles west of 
Charleston. The day was cold and wet. The Ninth 
Ohio went into camp near the town and we obtained 
a room in a house nearby. The owner was a very 
quiet, sensible and gentlemanly man. He did not 



l82 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

neglect southern hospitality. We had our own pro- 
visions but he placed a colored man at our service who 
was quite intelligent. He made a fire for us, as the 
day had been wet and cold, brought water to wash, 
and everything he could porcure for our comfort, and 
when he could do nothing more stood at the door 
seemingly hesitating to leave. He then looked at me 
and said, "Massa, might I talk a little wid you?" 

''Certainly", I replied. 

Said he, "I would like to get yo' advice on some 
t'ings. I wus bo'n an' raised in Charleston. I be- 
longed to massa all my life. He 'lowed me to lurn. 
I read de papahs I brings to him. I 'spect what's 
comin' an' dat de darkies will be free, an' I wants to 
know if I might go erlong wid youins as a cook o' 
servan', or stay wid my massa." 

''Has your master been good to you?" I asked. 

"Oh, yessah, but I'm nothin' but a slave. I wants 
to belong to mysef." 

I told him by all means to stay with his master 
and wait for the coming of the time he had been 
praying for. "We have had a harder time," I said, 
"in bringing that day to you, than you have ever had." 

By the courtesy of our host our supper had been 
spread on his dining room table, as he wanted to have 
a talk. He told us his home was in Charleston and 
lie had come up here to get away from the excite- 
ment of the war. "This seems to be an impossibility", 
he said. "It is a great calamity to both sections and 
has been brought on by a lack of knowledge of each 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. 183 

other. Your people, unfortunately, have a misconcep- 
tion of the true relation between master and servant 
in the South. There are, it is true, rare cases in which 
that relationship has been abused, but," he went on to 
say in the presence of his servant (who had consulted 
me, in the room and who was then standing behind my 
chair with a white apron on) 'T have owned slaves 
all my life and have always been kind to them; and 
there is not one of them up to this time that wants 
to leave me. They would rather stay with me now 
than try to make a living for themselves." His silent 
servant heard it all. 

Next morning and for three days the whole cav- 
alry command continued the work of railroad de- 
struction, and on February loth, we camped about five 
miles east of the town of Aiken which since then Has 
become a popular winter resort. 

Next morning, February nth, Kilpatrick left the 
1st. and 3rd. Brigades in camp and continued the work 
on the railroad, protecting the detail for that purpose 
with the 2nd Brigade moving in line by regiments ; 
92d Illinois to advance with Kilpatrick and staff, 9th. 
and loth. O. V. C. following, and the 9th. Michigan 
in the rear. General Wheeler fell back offering but 
little opposition. 

The country was level with timber and cornfield 
alternating. Kilpatrick ordered me to form my regi- 
ment in line behind a fence dividing a strip of timber 
from a large cornfield, while he with the 92nd. Illinois 



184 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

pushed forward, driving the enemy through the corn 
stalks into a body of timbers, beyond which was the 
town of Aiken. Here Wheeler made a stand and ac- 
tive firing began. I ordered my men to lay down 
every alternate panel of fence in front of them. 
Major Irvine, commanding on my extreme right flank, 
soon sent word that a force of the enemy was moving 
in a strip of timber around his right. It developed that 
General Beauregard had reached Aiken by trains in 
the night with his entire command on his way to 
join Johnston, but as we could go no further, he had 
unloaded his force to help Wheeler. 

Kilpatrick had got into the town and he and his 
body; guard were almost surrounded before he was 
aware of the fact. They escaped capture only by a hasty 
retreat with a close chase in the cornfield. A rebel 
officer at the head of his company was seen so close to 
Kilpatrick that he had his saber drawn in an efifort to 
reach him when Captain William Henderson, who 
since the war has been a prominent citizen of Ala- 
bama, and who was commanding Company *'D" on 
the left flank, ordered his men to fire on the rushing 
crowd, and turned them back. Kilpatrick sent an 
order to me to fall back as fast as possible. 

My command was under cover in the timber and 
I was on the right flank with Major Irvine, who had 
sent me word that the enemy was flanking him. when 
the officer rushed up with Kilpatrick's order. He was 
closely followed by an orderly sent from the surgeon 




Robert M. Rownd, 
Chief Bugler, 9th O. V. C. 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. 185 

to beg me to hold until he could gather up the 
wounded and the artillery officer sent word to hold 
until he could save his guns. In the meantime part 
of the Ninety-second Illinois were holding their 
ground but were about to be surrounded and my com- 
rade hearing General Kilpatrick's order to me to fall 
back were turning to the rear, but as I reached the 
center of the line I ordered "Right about." My young 
bugler Bob Rownd was in his glory as he sounded the 
charge. The enemies' bullets rattled among the dry 
cornstalks as we drove the surprised enemy back into 
the roads. They evidently thought that reinforce- 
ments had arrived. The men of the Ninety-second 
Illinois, were relieved but the enemy recovered and 
Lieut. Henry Morrison, one of my best young officers 
who commanded Co. A, of the Ninth Ohio, rode up to 
me saying, ''Colonel the enemy is moving in force 
around our right flank. Hadn't we better fall back?" 
I answered ''Yes", and told him to reform that com- 
mand in the rear of the Ninth Michigan, and directed 
the adjutant to notify our officers to form their com- 
panies in the rear and we would fall back alternating 
by regiment until we reached the support of the other 
brigades and I would so notify the Tenth Ohio and 
the Ninth Michigan and we would fall back in as 
good order as possible as we had learned by this time 
that Wheeler had been reinforced. 

I would not try to give the impression that the re- 
treat was carried out as methodically as this plan 
would indicate, but it was better than a stampede. 



1 86 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

which it prevented. In it there occurred an example 
of the difference between the training of a regular 
and volunteer officer. 

When my Second Lieutenant, Henry Morrison, of 
Co. A. came and told me what was occurring on his 
front, he acted as a regular officer; when he advised 
me what to do, he acted like a volunteer but in this 
affair he was practically right in both cases. 

Some years afterwards while spending a night in 
Rockmart, Georgia, I met a merchant who was a cap- 
tain in General Wheeler's command and who was in 
that battle. He said his attention was directed by 
General Wheeler to my fine black horse all white with 
sweat, and that he was told by the General to get him 
out of the way. 

He also told me that General Beauregard had ar- 
rived by train with 12,000 men en route to join General 
Johnston, and that one of the cavalry generals had 
been relieved of his command from his lack of energy 
in that battle. 

In that engagement our regiment suffered one of 
its most severe losses. My cousin, Adjutant Arthur 
T. Hamilton, while riding his horse on the railroad 
bed, directing some of the men, was struck by a ball 
that went through his leg near the knee joint, killing 
his horse. He was taken up with his saddle and 
bridle, by hospital steward Robert H. Moffitt. 

I found him among the other wounded in an old 
cabin. He smiled and said he was not much hurt. I 
told him the war would soon be over and he would be 




Robert H. Moffit, 
Hospital Steward, 9th O. V. C. 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. 187 

safe in the hospital out of danger till the close, and 
we would go home together. 

The wounded were placed in ambulances and sent 
to the infantry. Two days later I learned from the 
surgeon that his wound was not doing well, as signs 
of blood poisoning had appeared. I turned over the 
command to Lieutenant Colonel Stough, who com- 
manded the regiment through South Carolina, and de- 
voted myself to his care. I saw that his wound was 
carefully cared for and I held him in my arms for 
hours as the ambulance jolted over corduroy roads 
made by the pioneer corps, through the swamp lands 
of South Carolina. During this time blood poisoning 
had fully developed and the adjutant was plainly 
growing weaker. After traveling in this way for one 
hundred and seventy-five miles with the infantry we 
reached the town of Cheraw where the army was 
crossing the Pedee river on a pontoon into North 
Carolina. This took most of a day. During this 
time I held the adjutant in my arms. In the afternoon 
he looked up at me and smiled faintly and I saw he 
was dyingj 

I had a box made and a grave dug in the town 
cemetery, and when all was over I washed his face 
and hands and wrapped him in his blanket like a 
soldier. 

We buried him at midnight by the fierce light of 
a burning town. I noticed General Sherman pass by 
with a column of his infantry as we filled the grave, 



1 88 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

and I heard a soldier say, 'They are planting another 
one." 

I left him in his grave and rode with my orderly 
twelve miles up the river in a dark night through a 
drizzling rain to find our regiment, which had crossed 
on a pontoon into North Carolina in advance of a 
column of infantry which was crossing when we ar- 
rived. Here we had to wait in the rain an hour be- 
fore we could reach the pontoon. But after crossing 
we could not track our regiment in the dark. We 
tied our horses to a tree and lay down at the roots 
until daylight. In the morning we found our regi- 
ment. The boys looked at me in silence as I with a 
heavy heart rode along the moving column, and I 
heard them whispering to each other as we passed. 
"The adjutant is dead." 

I have been thus minute in my account of the 
death and loss to the regiment of that dear young of- 
ficer, for he was loved and trusted as one of the kind- 
est and bravest officers of the regiment. xA.nd as Sher- 
man said of McPherson, **He fell like a gentleman, 
booted and spurred." A captain's commission had 
been issued to him on the day he was shot but he died 
without knowing it. His body was afterwards re- 
moved by the government and now lies in the National 
Cemetery at Florence, South Carolina. 

March 5th. During my absence the brigade had 
crossed the Edisco river burning the cotton on its line 
of march, and camped within twenty miles of Colum- 
bia, then passed through Lexington, destroying cotton 




Hospital Steward Robt. H. Moffit. 
Now a Prominent Physician at Harrisburgh. Pa. 



DESCENT ON SOUTH CAROLINA. 189 

and laying waste the country until they reached the 
Saluda river; the enemy hanging on our flanks but 
offering little opposition. March 6th, the command 
reached the Pedee river, which forms the northern 
boundary of the state. 



CHAPTER 23. 

Battle of Averysboro and Capture of Colonel Rhett. 

— Battle of Bentonville. — Through the 

Turpentine Forests of North Carolina. 

— Kilpatrick's Narrow Escape. 

In the meantime the enemy had been concentrating 
their forces and met us at Averysboro. The battle 
began in the afternoon of March 13th. We lay on our 
arms through the night. The ground was low, wet 
and overgrown wnth brush and scrubby timber. The 
battle was renewed at daylight on the 14th by both in- 
fantry and cavalry. I was on my horse on the left 
flank of our line which was pressing the enemy slowly 
back, when two o-f the cavalrymen brought back a 
finely dressed officer on foot as a prisoner. I asked his 
name. In a spirit of untamed defiance, he replied, 
*T am Colonel Rhett, Sir, in command of the Con- 
federate Artillery, and I wish to explain that I was 
on the left of our skirmish line when I saw three men, 
and in the fog I took them for General Hampton's 
men and called to know where he was. They came 
up and covered me with their guns, saying they were 
Yankees and directed me to come with them, and I 
was too far from my men to decline." 

General Kilpatrick soon came up and asked who 

(190) 




Capt. E. L. Maxn, 
Co. "F," 9th O. V. C 



BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO, ETC. IQT 

I had. I told him who he was and how he was cap- 
tured. When the identity of each was known some 
hot words passed between them. Colonel Rhett said, 
bitterly, '1 was taken through a mistake of my own 
and you have the advantage of me now, but you d — d 
Yankees will not have it your own way very long in 
South Carolina. There are 50,000 fresh men ready 
and waiting for you." Kilpatrick replied, "Yes and if 
that is true we will have to hunt the swamp to find the 
d — d cowards." 

Colonel Alfred Rhett was the son of Barnwell 
Rhett, the editor of the Charleston Alercury, the lead- 
ing newspaper of the South, and a strong supporter 
of his intimate friend. John C. Calhoun. He was a 
typical representative of South Carolina aristocracy, 
the young men of which had been formed into an 
artillery brigade and were known as the Confederate 
Regular Heavy Artillery, 3,000 of them. They had 
been assigned to guard duty in Charleston Harbor, 
and the son of Barnwell Rhett was given command 
with a commission of colonel. 

General Kilpatrick directed me to place him in 
charge of an officer and send him to General Williams's 
headquarters. I put him in charge of Lieutenant Mann 
of my regiment who got two guards from his com- 
pany and started with him. On the way the colonel 
asked tlie lieutenant if his men would shoot him in 
case he tried to get away. The Heutenant remarked 
if he wanted to make the experiment he might try it. 
He didn't, however, and on arriving at General Wil- 



192 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

liams's headquarters he was turned over to Captain J. 
B. Foraker of the general's staff foir safe keeping. 

Here he was treated with the "distinguished con- 
sideration" that the South Carolina gentleman felt was 
his due. He was introduced to the general and mem- 
bers of his staff, taken to their table and given com- 
fortable quarters. Ail this was a new experience to 
him. It was one in which he learned that he could 
not dominate, but he could not desist from making 
himself offensive by his ill concealed bitterness and 
conteniipt for the Yankees. 

March 15th. It was learned that one of Gen- 
eral William's staff officers had been captured, his 
money, watch and part of his clothes taken and 
that he had been treated with indignity. This outrage 
caused a change in the treatment o^f Colonel Rhett. 
Altho he was perhaps the best dressed man in either 
Army, order w^as received to place him among the 
common prisoners. It was said that the staff officers 
invited him to exchange the patent leather boots which 
he wore for a pair of stogy shoes which he was told 
he would find more comfortable to march in : and 
it was said that there was a contest among the mem- 
bers of the staff for his boots, until it was found that 
although the colonel was a good sized man, there 
wasn't a man of the staff who could get his boots on. 

March 16, 1864, our cavalry was marching on the 
left flank of the infantry about three miles distant, 
when the enemy turned and miade a dash on the ad- 



BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO, ETC. I93 

vance 'brigade of the First Division of the Fourteenth 
Corps of our infantry. This brigade received the 
shock and fell back fighting to where the line of the 
Second Brigade was forming and throwing up such 
barricades as they could, to receive them. Here the 
two united brigades made a strong fight, other troops 
came up to their assistance and the battle was on in 
deadly earnest. 

General Kilpatrick gave the order, "Right Ob- 
lique" to the cavalry and we moved at a gallop to the 
sound of the cannon. The brigades were formed in 
easy reach to await orders, as at that time the battle 
was in the timber. 

The 9th O. V. I. was formed on the extreme right 
near where the Averysboro prisoners were lying under 
guard. Among them I noticed Colonel Rhett lying 
on the ground looking dirty and woe begone. He 
watched with deep interest the progress of the battle. 
Word came that a regiment had been taken, and think- 
ing it was one of ours, a bright look of joy came over 
his face, as he raised on his elbows to look. But when 
he saw a column of gray coming out of the smoke be- 
tween two columns of blue with muskets at right shoul- 
der shift, he lay back with a look of despair. 

I met his elder brother, Barnwell Rhett Jr., at his 
home in Huntsville, Alabama, since the war, who told 
me that his brother Alfred was dead. At his request 
I wrote an account O'f his brother's capture from our 
standpoint. I found him very pleasant, but the only 

13 



194 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

man in the South to say that it would have been better 
if they had won. 

In the battle of Bentonville, which was the closing 
heavy battle of the war, our loss in killed and wounded 
was 1,604. The enemy's, as reported, was 2,343. Our 
badly wounded were gathered into a building near by, 
which soon resembled a slaughter house. A dozen sur- 
geons and attendants in their shirt sleeves stood at 
rude benches cutting off arms and legs and throwing 
them out of the windows, where they lay scattered on 
the grass. The legs of the infantry could be distin- 
guished from those of the cavalry by the size of their 
calves, as the march of 1,000 miles had increased the 
size of the one and diminished the size of the other. 

Another room was filled with the severely 
wounded w^hose moans and cries were heart rending. 
Some in agony uttered curses on the men who brought 
on the war ; others were trying to send dying messages 
to loved ones at home ; and many in earnest prayer 
were imploring God's favor. I noticed one 
poor boy covered with blood which was flowing from 
a cruel wound in his breast which had been badly torn 
by a piece of a shell. Amidst the confusions of 
sounds I heard him calling plaintively for his mother 
and Jesus in turns. "Jesus," he cried, "have mercy 
on me. I don't think I have been a very bad boy. Oh, 
do have mercy on me. dear Jesus." 

When I returned his eyes were closed and all was 
still. 



BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO, ETC. IQS 

It added bitterness to the hearts of these brave 
boys and their friends to think that so near the end 
of the long weary march that closed the war they 
should be stricken down in battle almost within reach 
of home. 

In our march through North Carolina we were 
in the home of the long leaf pine which has given 
turpentine to the country and the name of 'Tar Heel 
State" to the fine old commonwealth of North 
Carolina. 

Here are extensive forests of trees from twenty 
inches to three feet in diameter and at least seventy 
feet without a limb, but spreading at the top with a 
dense mass of interlocking limbs, clothed in evergreen 
leaves so dense as to exclude the sun. The ground 
is covered from 4 to 6 inches deep with "pine 
needles" rotting at the bottom but soft and clean on 
the surface. 

The turpentine is obtained by tapping these trees 
as we boys used to get molasses from our sugar trees 
long ago. But they cut notches deep enough to hold 
about a quart of sap, which is gathered into barrels 
and becomes the turpentine of commerce. 

The war had stopped all this, and the notches were 
found full of coagulated sap, which from different 
sources, had oozed out and whitened the bark on the 
trunks of the trees higher up. Our foragers had set 
fire to the turpentine in the notches and the blaze ex- 
tended to the resin on the bark, causing a smoke which 
could hardly escape through the green canopy above, 



196 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

but hung like a pall over our heads, while the fire below^ 
lighted up the trunks of the trees that seemed to be 
surpporting a roof, creating a feeling of awe as though 
we were within the precincts of a grand old cathedral. 

A cabin was standingj by the side of a sluggish 
stream ; the water was black with the stain of decay- 
ing pine leaves. The cabin was filled with barrels of 
resin and tar. All had been set on fire. The burning 
contents found their way to the water and floated wind- 
ing down the stream like fiery serpents of ancient 
mythology. As our column came quietly in to dis- 
mount for the night all besmeared with pine smoke, 
the vision was complete. It seemed as though some- 
how I had got into "Dante's Inferno" and my only 
wonder was that these mounted demons as they came 
filing in should look so much like men ! 

One evening a few days later, while I was at sup- 
per, my foragers brought a prisoner to my quarters. 
He was an honest young countryman about six feet 
tall and nineteen years old. He was dressed in a 
rebel uniform, and was without an overcoat, although 
the weather was rather cold. The boys said they got 
him in a house. 

"Where do you belong?" I asked. 

'T am a Tar Heel, Sah." 

"Where are you going?" 

"I was just goin' home to see my folks and get 
something to eat when these Yanks got me. One of 
them got my overcoat. I don't know who it was, but 
I can lick the d d man that took it." 



BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO, ETC. 1 97 

"If I would give you your supper and let you go," 
I asked, *'where would you go?" 

"Vd hunt up the man that stole my overcoat and 
lick him and then go to my regiment." 

"Would you fight us again if you got a chance?" 

"Of course, I would. That's what I enlisted for." 

"Well, then we will keep you here. I think you 
are an honest boy with good mettle in you. Come, as 
you say you are hungry. If you will sit down here 
you shall have a good supper with me but we will try 
and keep you from killing any of us." 

I don't think he ever found his overcoat. 

Kilpatrick received orders from General Sherman 
to cross the Cape Fear River with his entire command 
and move on Lexington. Heavy rains had fallen and 
the roads were so swampy that a long corduroy bridge 
was found to be under water. The artillery horses 
of the Second Brigade broke through. The night was 
dark and wet. To get the gims forward ropes were 
brought and fifty men were required to pull each of 
them through. This kept us at work all night. Next 
morning we breakfasted on a near by plantation. We 
fed the horses on corn which we found in a crib and 
parched some for ourselves, which, with honey we 
took from a bee hive was all we had for breakfast. 
While eating this, Captain Estes, Kilpatrick's adjutant 
general, reached us on foot in his shirt sleeves, out 
of breath, saying that the Third Brigade, which had 
marched three miles in advance, had been attacked 
before daylight and their headlquarters, with tiheir 



198 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

horses and equipment, had been captured; that the 
general and most of the staff had broken for the brush, 
half dressed, and he had run back to hurry us up. We 
were not in very good condition to hurry, but soon 
found that we were not needed. Lieutenant Colonel 
Stough of the Ninth Ohio with his four hundred dis- 
mounted men were camped close by. 

When we arrived, however, we found a strange 
condition of things. General Kilpatrick and staff 
had been marching with the Third Brigade three 
miles in advance. Knowing that fact, General 
Wheeler made an attack before daylight and captured 
headquarters with all its property, the artillery and 
most of the staff* officers, although General Kilpatrick 
made his escape half dressed into the swamp near by. 

But it so happened that about four hundred dis- 
mounted cavalrymen of our brigade had exchanged 
their carbines for Springfield rifles and had been 
marching with the wagon train as infantry under 
command of Lieutenant Colonel Stough of the Ninth 
O. V. C, assisted by Lieutenant Louis Geague. Co. E., 
and Sergant Rice infantry men and good officers, and 
by officers from other regiments having dismounted 
men. They had encamped behind a swamp not far from 
Kilpatrick's headquarters with Colonel Spencer of the 
3rd Brigade. In the morning before daylight the enemy 
made an attack and captured the headquarters and 
the battery belonging to the 3rd Brigade, including a 
number of the officers. General Kilpatrick, however, 
escaped, partly dressed, and remained under cover. 



BATTLE OF AVERYSBORO, ETC. I 99 

In the meantime Colonel Stough rushed his men to 
the rescue, and, after firing a volley from his Spring- 
field rifles, charged with the bayonet, re-taking the 
captured battery. This determined attack the enemy 
mistook as coming from the 14th Corps which they 
knew had encamped near by. Officers retook the bat- 
tery and opened with canister and the enemy were 
driven from the field and the headquarters of the 
3rd Brigade were retaken. When the sun arose the 
head of the 14th Corps appeared in sight. The 
enemy lost a large number of men in killed and 
wounded, including a number of officers. 

This timiely and dramatic afifair released Colonel 
Spencer and his staff, enabled General Kilpatrick to 
return from his seclusion and finish his toilet, and 
smothered the ridicule which the infantry tried to at- 
tach to the affair by referring to it as "Kilpatrick's 
Shirt-tail Skedaddle." Colonel Stough and the dis- 
mounted men of our brigade received great credit for 
this timely dash and Colonel Stough was complimented 
with the brevet rank of Brigadier General. After 
the war Lieutenant Geague wrote me that General 
Kilpatrick had called on him in his western home and 
spoke in admiration of the affair, saying at the same 
time that the Ninth Ohio was one of the best dis- 
ciplined volunteer cavalry regiments that he ever com- 
manded. 



CHAPTER 24. 
The Last Engagement of the War. 

March 17th, 1865, General Johnston evacuated 
Goldsboro and intrenched his forces on the road 
leading to Raleigh. This gave us undisputed con- 
nection with the North. Here the Ninth Ohio 
exchanged their Burnside breech loading carbines 
for the more effective seven shooting Spencers. We 
also secured a number of convalescents who were 
waiting for us, and quite a number of recniits who 
presented themselves too late to be of any value to 
the service and most of whom had been induced to 
volunteer by the large bounties they could secure and 
through the conviction that the war was about over. 

One of them who had been in our brigade about 
a week, got some whiskey and a horse and with a 
comrade took a ride to the country. He overtook an 
old citizen carrying a jug, which he demanded, think- 
ing it contained whiskey; and when the old man de- 
clined to do this, he shot him. This recruit was 
promptly arrested, tried by ''Drumhead" Court Mar- 
tial next day and ordered shot. 

A box was made that day ; next morning marching 
orders were received and when all was ready the divi- 
sion started on the road to Raleigh. The man was 
put in an ambulance and brought out under guard 

(200) 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 201 

behind the command to a vacant spot outside of the 
city, riding on his box to where a grave had been dug. 
Here the brigade of four regiments was ordered up m 
the form of a hollow square. The man was brought 
in the ambulance to the grave beside which the box 
was placed. He was made to kneel on the box, and 
after he had cast a look around, he was blindfolded. 
A detail of eight soldiers took their places ten steps 
in front of him; eight loaded guns were given them— 
seven with ball, and one blank. When all was ready 
I heard him say, "Schoot me schrait in the breast, boys. 
Schoot me schrait in the breast. I think it will be 

better for me." 

The guns were leveled and the white napkin tell. 
I saw his blouse ''fly" out from his back as seven balls 
went through him and he fell upon his coffin. He 
was buned where he fell. At the sound of the bugle 
"Fours right. Forward March" was given and the 
tragedy was over. It was learned that the man was 
from Canada, and had been making a business of 

Bounty Jumping. r j u 

But when he, like others of his class, found the 
Confederacy dying, he enlisted to be in at the death. 
Among the convalescents who reached us was my 
young cousin, Daniel Hamilton, a younger brother to 
the late adjutant. He had been taken down with ty- 
phoid fever at Decatur, Alabama, before the Rousseau 
raid and was unable to join us in the Grand March, 
but obtained permission to meet us at Goldsboro. 

When taken sick at Decatur he was cared for and 



202 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

nursed back to health in the home of a Mrs. Austin. 
a poor widow, who was as kind hearted as she was 
loyal. Her son then 6 years old is now Hon. R. W. 
Austin, an able Republican member of Congress for 
the 2d district of Tennessee. 

Although scarcely able for duty, Daniel Hamilton 
was anxious to be with his brother and came happy 
in the thought of meeting him. When he learned that 
he had been killed in battle and that the body was 
buried in South Carolina, the sudden look of despair 
that broke the poor boy down kindled anew the sorrow 
that filled my own breast w^hen his brother fell. I took 
Daniel with me as an assistant to my orderly, Morton 
Black. They had been bosom friends from ahildhood 
and reared under the same influence. 

But Morton had seen more service in the field and 
understood matters better. To illustrate this, the or- 
derly told me one morning that we had no butter. I 
told him to go out and find some and to take Dan 
with him. After riding some distance through a pretty 
good country, Morton's practiced eye lighted upon 
a plantation house in a grove surrounded by green 
fields. He remarked, *'This is where I think w^e 
can find butter." They both went galloping up to the 
gate and Morton called to dismount. Dan drew up his 
horse and said, ''Morton, have you any money? — I 
haven't a cent!" 

This became a great joke in the regiment, but can- 
not be fully appreciated by any one who never fol- 
lowed Sherman to the sea. 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 203 

On approaching Raleigh the city was surrendered 
without ooposition by the Mayor and a committee of 
citizens who came out to meet us. When General Ki - 
Patrick entered the city at the head of his column al 
was quiet. But a squad of rebel outlaws led by a rebel 
lieutenant was engaged m robbing houses and cursmg 
the ''Damned Yankees." . 

W'hen the column appeared, all mounted their 
horses and left in a hurry, but the lieutenant, who 
waited until Kilpatrick was within gun shot. He 
drew his pistol and fired six shots at the head of the 
column then mounted his horse and left with the oth- 
ers A squad of horsemen was sent in pursuit and 
overhauled him. Kilpatrick ordered a rope, and he 
was hung to the nearest tree. 

He died a vile marauder or a bold patriot, depend- 
ing on who tells the story. But in either case-like a 

spectacular fool. 

On April 15th., 1865. a terrible storm prevailed 
which raised the waters so that the streams became 
almost impassable. Our brigade received orders to 
halt We built barricades and went into camp. Next 
day General Atkins received orders to press forward. 
I now quote from Mrs. Cornelia Spencer, a South- 
ern lady who was there at the time, published a his- 
tory of the war in 1866. 

'The bridge across New Hope river had been 
washed away but some stringers were left. General 
Hampton's cavalry occupied the other side. The Ninth 



^04 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

O. V. C, the leading regiment of General Atkins' 
brigade, crossed a hundred dismounted men over the 
river on the remaining stringers and were scarcely 
over when they were furiously charged by Hampton's 
cavalry. A heavy skirmish occurred in which several 
were killed on both sides." 

General Atkins report of the affair was that the 
men of the 9th. Ohio crossed on the stringers, took 
possession of a rebel barricade by a sudden dash 
and held it against four separate charges of Hamp- 
ton's Cavalry, using their new seven shooting Spencer 
carbines to such effect that the enemy withdrew leav- 
ing a number of men and horses wounded and dead 
on the field, although the Ninth lost not a man either 
killed or wounded. 

Some of these men were of Company '*G", com- 
manded by Lieutenant Knapp, who was taken prisoner 
on the Peters' plantation near Florence a year before, 
but had made his escape. 

In this affair I was not present as I had been 
ordered to follow Wheeler who was moving by his 
right flank with the apparent design of getting around 
our left, and I was ordered to move on a parallel line 
about a mile distant with all my command but Com- 
pany "G" to watch his movements. And this brought 
on the last battle of the war of which I gave a full 
account in a paper read before the Cincinnati Com- 
mandery of the Loyal Legion in 1907, and which 
includes our three weeks' experience while stationed 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 205 

in Chapel Hill, and an account of the effect the murder 
of the president at that time had upon the army and 
the terror it produced among the citizens. 

I will close this description of our military opera- 
tions by inserting a copy of that paper, entitled 
THE LAST SHOT OF THE WAR. 
The Confederate historian, Pollard, in his history of the 
Rebellion, which, with complacent incorrectness he '=^"; The 
War Between the States," says that on 'h^ 16'^ /ay of Ap I 
1865, a portion of Wheeler's cavalry covernig 'he r'^'?'/;"; 
o£ Johnston's army, was ordered to move round to the rear 
of Sherman's army, to gain what i"f°™-"°" ,*;>'.~" ' '" 
regard to his position. He proceeds to say that th s force 
was met near Chapel Hill, North Carolma, l,y the Ninth Ol o 
Volunteer Cavalry, of Kilpatrick's command, on the morning 

of the 17th, and a sharp ^"S^'f "^"' °""7^' ™'"*P,deral 
ever, was suddenly ended by the withdrawal of the Federal 

^°'^Tn this affair he says their own loss was twelve men 
wounded, and four killed. The enemy's loss was ""t ascer- 
Ta^ed He then says the Confederate forces retired by way 
of Chapel Hill, after learning that hostilities were e"ded by 
agreement between Generals Johnston and Sherman, and that 
our gallant struggle for independence had been given up^ and 
the last blood of the noble sons of the South had been offered 
on the altar of a Lost Cause. 

As it is proper for the truth of history that the details 
of this last engagement be correctly given, I wi" state that 
at the time mentioned, the Second Brigade of K.lpatnck s 
forces, occupied the extreme left of Sherman^ army some 
welv miles from his headquarters at Durham's Station^ 
My orders were to keep a strict watch to Prevent a flank 
movement of the enemy. I became aware that Wheeler was 
s nd ng a force by his right flank evidently to reach our 



206 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

rear. I moved my command on a parallel line, one or two 
miles distant. That night the enemy went into camp on the 
south side of a cypress swamp, about one-fourth of a mile in 
width. 1 encamped a short distance on the other side. There 
was a corduroy road cut through the timber in the swamp, 
which the enemy had taken the precaution to guard, by plac- 
ing a section of artillery at the other end. In the night I 
received a dispatch stating that General Johnston had re- 
quested a conference with General Sherman, but as yet noth- 
ing had been arranged, and I was directed to press the 
enemy with vigor in the morning, but in such a way as not 
to expose my men too much, as the war was evidently draw- 
ing to a close, and Sherman did not want any more men 
sacrificed than could be avoided. I informed my officers of 
the nature of the dispatch, and directed that they have the 
companies in line by 4 o'clock in the morning with a full 
supply of ammunition. 

The Ninth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry had recently been 
armed with seven-shooting Spencer carbines, and the men 
were eager to use them. I directed that in all the companies 
but two, after counting off, they should dismount numbers 
1, 2 and 3, and let number 4 take the horses, the others to 
form as infantry and move quietly to the edge of the swamp, 
in which the water was one or two feet deep and covered 
with a heavy growth of cypress trees, then in young leaf. 
The officers in charge were to enter the water with their 
men and move forward in line, wath instructions to keep 
well under cover, until they draw the fire of the enemy's 
outposts, then to open fire with all the energy the conditions 
would allow. That I, with the remaining companies, would 
charge over the corduroy road and strike their right flank 
as soon as the enemy moved their artillery. The men took 
the water before it was light and soon drew the enemy's fire. 
The water was not very cold, and the novelty of the situation 
increased their enthusiasm, and the men moved steadily for- 
ward, firing upon the camp of the enemy with such thunder- 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 207 

mg noise as to indicate that a full brigade vyas in action. 
The artillery was soon turned upon them, which gave me 
the opportunity I waited for, to dash with the mounted men 
over the corduroy road and attack their flank. The men 
who had gotten through the swamp mounted their horses 
which had followed me over the corduroy road and my 
entire command pressed forward. The enemy at length fell 
back, delivering an irregular fire, which we were returning 
when a courier rode up to me with a dispatch from General 
Kilpatrick, stating that a flag of truce had been a.-eed upon 
that terms of surrender were being prepared, and hostilities 
should be suspended. From the movements of the enem> , 
1 inferred a similar dispatch had been received. They retired 
bv way of Chapel Hill to Hillsboro, where they went into 
cLp, and the war was ended. The "last shot had been 
fired at the Confederacy, and we had the honor to be in at 
the death !" without the loss of a man. I was ordered to 
proceed next day to Chapel Hill. The terms a-anged by 
General Sherman were disapproved however, at Washington 
and the official surrender did not take place until the 26th 

°^ l^can best describe our joy and enthusiasm by recalling 
to your remembrance your own feelings, my Companions 
of the Legion, when the sunshine of that welcome news 
brightened the heavens for us. As for myself after my 
joy that the end had come, my second thought was that 
four out of six of my kindred had been sacrificed to bring 
about that day, and only I, the oldest, and one other, the 
youngest, would ever receive a welcome home to share in 
the blessings purchased at such a cost 

The next day we moved eight miles into Chapel Hill, i 
established headquarters in a house on the outskirts of the 
town, and camped the command in a grove near by _ 

Chapel Hill was, and still is, the seat of the University 
of North Carolina, with, at that time, a population of about 
2,500 inhabitants. 



208 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Like most college towns, it contained a large class of 
intelligent and cultivated people. Here we learned that four 
of their soldiers had been killed and ten or twelve wounded 
in this last engagement. The killed were buried, and the 
wounded were being cared for by their people, and although 
we did everything in our power to allay their feeling of 
aversion, it was plainly seen that we were not welcome. 

On the morning of the 20th of April, I noticed an un- 
usual commotion in the town. Soon the telegraph operator 
brought me a dispatch stating that last night the President 
was shot, and had died that morning; that Secretary Seward 
had been stabbed while lying on a sick bed, and was thought 
to be fatally injured; that his son was badly wounded while 
trying to defend him, and that an attempt had been made 
upon the life of the Vice-President. I gasped for breath. A 
shadow of darkness and horror came over me. I became 
dizzy and leaned on a fence for support. Tears ran down 
my cheeks, and I bitterly exclaimed as in prayer, Great God, 
has it come to this? Is it possible that after we had met 
them in open battle and shot to death their purpose to destroy 
the Nation, that they are going to steal upon us like cowards 
with murder in their hearts like this? The news flew 
through the camp in a moment. Men gathered in squads 
and talked low, with a threatening look of vengeance. Citi- 
zens, pale with alarm, came in squads to see me with the 
anxious inquiry whether their town would be burned, and 
begged to assure me that they had no knowledge that such 
a terrible event was contemplated, and prayed that we would 
do them no harm, for they were very sorry that such a 
calamity had fallen upon the country. "Gentlemen," I re- 
plied, "we are all broken up and staggered by this frightful 
news ; it may be that some of your reckless leaders in the 
desperation of their failure have rashly determined upon a 
guerrilla warfare and secret assassination, but I can hardly 
believe it. I am rather persuaded that it has been the crazy 
act of a band of irresponsible adventurers, who have stricken 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 209 

down (had they but known it) the truest and ablest friend 
the South, in this, her sore extremity, could ever have. Go 
home at once, and assure your families for me that, although 
my men are terribly excited over this event, they are neither 
guerrillas nor cut-throats, but American soldiers with the 
common instinct of true American citizens, and that your 
homes and property will not be disturbed by them." A 
reaction of feeling resulted, the citizens became more cordial, 
and met us with more friendly recognition. 

In a day of two, Professor Hubbard, of the University, 
called and invited me with one or two of my officers to dinner. 
Here we had the pleasure of meeting two very charming 
ladies, in the persons of his wife and daughter. The husband 
of the latter was a Confederate officer, at that time a prisoner 
in Fortress Monroe. The dinner was frugal, but well ordered. 
I took occasion to compliment the white bread, saying that 
it was something new to us, and certainly very good. Mrs. 
Hubbard remarked with a smile that it ought to be, as the 
barrel of flour cost her one thousand dollars, and she had 
scraped the bottom of the barrel at the last baking, and did 
not know where the next was to come from. 

Two or three days afterward my scouts reported that 
they had found eighteen barrels of flour in a mill out in the 
country marked "C. S. A." I sent three teams to bring 
it in, and did what any gentleman would have done 
under the circumstances : I directed my commissary lieu- 
tenant, who was rather an elegant fellow, to black his 
boots, put on a white collar, if he had one, and trim himself 
up, and take a barrel of flour down to Mrs. Hubbard with 
my compliments. This little act of courtesy brought from 
the daughter the next morning a beautiful specimen of the 
fragrant' magnolia in full bloom, and an invitation for me 
and the lieutenant, with another officer or two, to meet some 
friends at the house of Professor Ritter the next evening. 

14 



2IO RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

This was appreciated and accepted. On this evening we met 
a number of young people of the town, chiefly from the 
college families. One of the most attractive was the daughter 
of a former Governor of the State and President of the 
college. She was also a second cousin to Governor Zeb. 
Vance, of the State. By the way, the old families of the 
Carolinas are very exclusive, and trace a blood relationship 
among themselves after the style of the leading families of 
England. Miss Swain was as brilliant and original as she 
was elegant and attractive. I became the especial target of 
her attack. "Well," said she, "you Yankees have got here 
at last. We have been looking for you for some time, and 
have a curiosity to know what you are going to do with us. 
You have destroyed our country and our means of support ; 
you have burned our fences and many of our homes and 
factories ; you have disorganized and robbed us of our labor ; 
you have killed or disabled our young men, at least the best 
of them, but the women are all here ; what are you going to 
do with us?" The expression on her strangely bright face as 
she presented this formidable indictment almost paralyzed me. 
but I recovered enough to venture modestly the suggestion that 
it might be well for us to follow the example of the ancient 
Fabians, who, after they had overrun a neighboring province 
and killed the men, began the reconstruction of the country 
by marrying the woman ! "Well," she said, "the North has 
assumed the responsibility, and we are at your mercy ; but I 
suppose you will let us have something to say about that." 
We passed quite an interesting evening. It seemed to be 
their wish to learn all they could in regard to the in- 
truders. It was claimed by Miss Swain that in a social way 
they were at a disadvantage. The Northern officers had the 
means of learning the character and social standing of the 
Southern people, while they themselves could stand upon the 
temporary prominence their rank gave them and assume 
a high position among us, while they might belong to a 
very ordinary class at home. I frankly admitted this was 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 211 

true in some instances, but said we had plenty of gentlemen 
in the army whose standing did not rest upon appearances, 
but was the result of their personal energy, high character 
and ability, and I said it would give me pleasure to present at 
her convenience a very gallant friend of mine, who is a good 
representative of this class, and who, like myself, is a 
bachelor, and always expected to remain one; "but. Miss 
Swain, I have been thinking, since I have had the pleasure 
of meeting you, that if there is a lady in the State of North 
Carolina that could make him change his mind on that sub- 
ject, you could." She bowed her thanks and inquired his 
name. I replied that it was General Smith D. Atkins, of 
Illinois, commanding the Second Brigade. She said she 
would be at home to-morrow evening. The meeting was 
arranged accordingly, and one or two other lady friends 
were asked to be present. 

The next day I called on the General and told him that 
I had made an appointment for him in a social way for that 
evening. He replied that he did not want to make any social 
calls, that we were not here for anything of that kind. I 
replied that in my opinion, he was entirely wrong, that the 
war was over and it had been decided that we were to remain 
one people — North and South. That it was now as much 
our duty to break down the unfortunate prejudice which 
existed between us as it had been to break down the rebel- 
lion, and we should devote our best endeavors to bring about 
a reconciliation between the sections. He then inquired 
where I wanted him to go. I told him that it was to Gov- 
ernor Swain's. He had already met the Governor, who had 
been one of the Committee of Three to meet our forces on 
our approach to Raleigh, and to offer the surrender of the 
city. He consented to make a short call, and we spent a 
very pleasant evening at the house of the Governor. I gave 
my attention to the ladies of the previous evening, while the 
General devoted himself to Miss Swain. About 10 o'clock 
I suggested that perhaps it was time to go to camp. He 



212 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

replied that it was not late. Some time afterward I repeated 
the suggestion. He responded, "Yes, in a few minutes." 
After another interval I said if we remained much longer 
we would have trouble, as I had not the countersign. He 
replied that he had it. I called at his headquarters the next 
afternoon, and was told that he had gone down to Governor 
Swain's on some matter of business. It was the old, old 
story. A feathered arrow from the ancient bow had pierced 
the heart the modern bullet had failed to reach. After the 
war he came back and they were married, and reconstruction 
in its best form was begun in North Carolina. 

War teaches us to value peace. Peace is the dream of 
the philanthropist. We all sympathize with the aim of The 
Hague Court of Arbitration; but, after all, war is not the 
greatest calamity that can befall a nation. In the frailties of 
human nature there are some diseases that nothing else will 
cure. The nations which have reached the highest plane of 
development have been the most warlike. 

Civilization and even Christianity have followed in the 
pathway of armies. 

In all animated nature the spirit of war is universal, and 
the survival of the strongest rather than the fittest is the rule. 
The average man will fight, and there is a limit to provocation 
beyond which if he doesn't fight women despise him, and the 
best men lose faith in him. So it is with nations. 

The lion and the unicorn rampant and the eagle with out- 
stretched pinions are the cherished emblems of progressive 
civilization. 

For centuries China has remained as unmoved as a frozen 
sea, until she was shaken by an upheaval a few years ago. 
Now she is getting unwieldy proportions into the column 
of modern progress, and even permitting the introduction of 
modern thought. 

The ingenious energy we displayed during the Civil War 
has been contagious, and the overturning of the old methods 
among the nations is America's contribution to the world's 



LAST ENGAGEMENT OF THE WAR. 213 

advancement. It is said that we are a restless people, but 
unrest is the secret of advancement. 

A stagnant pool loses its vitality and becomes offensive. 
The water of Lake Michigan washes the city of Chicago, but 
becomes cleansed in its journey through the canal. The angry 
torrents that dash through the rapids into Lake Ontario are 
purer than when they left Lake Erie. Even so, our beloved 
country, with all her remaining faults, is grander, better and 
purer than she was in the sixties, because in her efforts at 
purification she passed through her crimson Niagara. 

On April 29th, General Kilpatrick came to Chapel 
Hill from Durham's Station and reviewed the brigade 
for the last time. On May 3rd. we bid farewell to 
Chapel Hill and marched twelve miles to Hillsboro. 

The confederate cavalry had been paroled but were 
permitted to retain their horses and side arms. They 
marched by our side on itheir way home, enemies no 
longer, but chatting with us as friends. The Boys in 
Gray were somewhat downcast and dispirited, but no 
gibes were uttered by the Boys in Blue. They had 
met on many a hard fought battle field, and had ac- 
quired that affectionate respect which brave men have 
for each other. 

On May 4th, the brigade continued its march 
from Hillsboro to Company Shops, a railroad town, 
and camped for the night in a strip of woods nearby. 
Two of the boys of the Tenth O. V. Cavalry, in clear- 
ing away a brush heap for their tent, found fresh dirt, 
and by digging uncovered some small boxes filled with 
gold coins. They became excited and called a few of 
the Ninth and Tenth boys that were camped nearby 



214 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

to show what they had found. It was quietly agreed 
among them to fill their pockets and wait till morning 
to determine what to do. But the word got out and 
the gold rapidly disappeared. 

In the morning there was an excitement in the 
town. The railroad had extensive shops and bank lo- 
cated there. The bank officials, hearing that the Yan- 
kees were coming, had taken the unwise precaution to 
box the gold and hide it under a brush heap and the 
boys, forgetting that the war was over, still claimed 
the privilege of foragers. 

The bank officials became alarmed and called on 
General Kilpatrick and explained the situation, saying 
that $80,000 in gold was deposited in the boxes which 
men had found. The general at once issued an order 
to return the money, but after an apparent diligent 
search only $30,000 was recovered. The general 
stormed publicly, the men smiled privately, and the 
march continued. 

But the undiscovered $50,000 became troublesome 
wealth to the boys who had it. Although gold at that 
time stood at a premium of more than twice the value 
of greenbacks, many of the boys were willing to trade 
for greenbacks, as they could be more easily hid. 
Others deserted and broke for home. This they found 
was a mistake for they were marked on the rolls as 
deserters, and pay due them was with-held and their 
claim for pensions sadly interfered with. 



CHAPTER 25. 

Service in North Carolina After the Close of the 

War. 

We reached Greensboro that evening May 5th and 
took possession of two hundred confederate cannon 
which we found parked there. I went into camp, put 
out -uards as usual while raising the flag over my 
tent ""a fine looking officer dressed in a confederate 
captain's uniform came up and introduced himself as 
Captain Kearny, late of General Beauregard's staff, 
and asked if I was Colonel Hamilton. I answered, 
-Yes" Then he said, "The guard that you were 
kind enough to send to our house said you were from 
Zanesville, Ohio." I told him I was. He said, Our 
family was originally from Zanesville. I am a nephew 
of Captain Kearny and am now at my aunt's Mrs. Col- 
onel Wilkes, who was a daughter of Mrs. Van Buren 
of Zanesville, and I have been sent to mvite you to 
dine with us. I told him that I knew both the 
Kearny and the Van Buren families and would take 
pleasure in accepting her kind invitation ; and after 
putting matters in order, I joined him m a walk of 
about one square and a half and was introduced to 
Major and Mrs. Wilkes, and to the captam s sister, 

Miss Mary Kearny. 

(215) 



2l6 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Major Wilkes was the son of Commodore Wilkes 
of our old navy. He had been an engineer on the 
construction of the B. & O. railroad at Zanesville, 
where he met and married Miss Van Buren. The 
entire connection were Virginians and had identified 
themselves w^ith the southern cause, although they had 
all gone to school in Zanesville. 

Miss Mary was a very bright, black-eyed girl of 
about twenty-five, who did the entertaining in the 
absence of the others. She was a fine talker and an 
enthusiastic Southerner, and of course the subject of 
war was uppermost with her. She seemed to be quite 
curious about my opinion of things. 

"What do you think of General Lee?" she began. 

"I have a very high opinion of him ; he is a refined 
gentleman and a highly educated and superior military 
officer." 

"What is your opinion of Stonewall Jackson?" she 
asked. 

"I consider him a military genius — a modern 
Cromwell, with the power of holding the unbounded 
confidence of his men." I replied. 

Miss Mary was somewhat surprised and non- 
plussed, but continued by asking, 

"What do you think of General Joe Johnston?" 

I replied, "I know a little more about him, as I 
was with Sherman who opposed him. As a military 
strategist and a gentleman I think he could be classed 
with the other two." 



IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER THE WAR. 2X7 

"I suppose you have met a number of our officers," 
she said, "What do you think of them generally?" 

''As a rule they are very gallant and courteous gen- 
tlemen," I answered. 

Miss Kearny seemed disappointed in failmg to 
induce a discussion, but she continued, 

"What is your opinion of the southern army gen- 
erally?" . 

I replied, "I will have to admit that it was a hne 

army." 

"Do you think there was ever a finer or a braver 

set of mien?" 

"I don't think that there ever was," said I. 

After studying a while she came with the chal- 
lenge, 

"Won't you admit that General Lee is a greater 

man that General Grant?" 

I replied, "In some things I presume he is. But, 
Miss Kearny, do you see that flag out there? What 

flag is that?" 

"Oh, that is the Yankee flag." 

"No, I beg your pardon", said I, ''you are mis- 
taken. That is the flag of the United States. Don't 
you think that the men who carried that flag for one 
thousand miles around through the center of your con- 
federacy, and who can keep it flying there m the 
center of North Carolina in spite of General Lee and 
the finest army the world ever saw, are entitled to 
some consideration?" 



2l8 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Fortunately just then, supper was announced and 
we adjourned to the table, and the subject was not 
resumed. 

The brigade proceeded south to near Charlotte. 
Our headquarters were established at Concord and we 
remained in control of the country during the inter- 
regnum until August. Everything was quiet and 
peaceable and the troops cultivated the friendship of 
the people and enjoyed the rest. 

We selected a nice location for a camp a mile from 
the town, and laid it ofif regularly, the head of each 
company fronting the road. Our duty was to preserve 
the peace until civil government could be established. 
Patrols selected from our best men were sent out each 
day to canvass the country for miles around. They 
were instructed to cultivate the friendship of the 
people and to pay for everything they got. 

Our camp was pitched in an open grove contain- 
ing a variety of evergreens and bushes of different 
colored leaves. To give the men something to do out- 
side of their regular military duty, which had lost its 
attraction, I suggested to Company ''A'', mostly boys 
from our^ old home, that they try to see how orna- 
mental they could make their quarters. The 
other boys looked on with some curiosity until a 
spirit of rivalry prompted the other companies to fol- 
low suit. Each made improvements to surpass the 
other until the camp became a picture, with arches of 
evergreens at the head of each company fronting the 
road. The center company placed as their motto the 



IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER THE WAR. 219 

word, "Concord" in flowers. The companies on either 
side followed their example, choosing "Union" and 
mottoes of their own, formed with evergreens and 
flowers which were renewed as required. This spirit 
of emulation extended to the messes of the different 
companies until the camp became a thing of beauty 
and a center of general attraction. 

The market people brought their supplies to us be- 
fore they visited the other less attractive regiments 
of the brigade. The m^en came -^vith their apples and 
potatoes; the women, and especially the girls, with 
their buttter and eggs, for which they received a fair 
price and fair smiles thrown in. The latter, however, 
were returned with interest each day when the girls 
brough fresh flowers to renew the company mot- 
toes. 

In matters of importance among the people we 
consulted a committee of leading conservative citizens 
and their suggestions were generally followed. 

There was one case, however, that caused some 
excitement. A general order had been issued from 
Washington that to make a contract valid the parties 
thereto must have taken the oath of allegiance to the 
government of the United . States before a provost 
marshal. 

One afternoon some other officers and I were 
invited to attend a wedding in the village. The con- 
tracting parties were a widow and a widower. The 
ceremony was to take place in a large one-roomed log 
house, a temporary partition in which was made with a 



220 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

number of bed sheets stretched across. Behind this the 
bride elect with her attired maids were awaiting the 
hour. Shortly before the appointed time a number of 
officers and citizens came in with the minister and 
bridegroom, all of which were seated in due form. The 
bridegroom went behind the curtain and soon appeared 
with the blushing bride on his arm. The usual ques- 
tions were asked and the ceremony was about to be 
completed when an officer arose and asked if the 
bridegroomi had taken an oath of allegiance to the 
United States government, and it was found that he 
had not. The parties had to be seated until a mes- 
senger was sent to bring the provost marshal, but after 
an hour's hunting, he could not be found, and the 
afifair had to be postponed until the next day. 

It was intimated that he hid on purpose. But of 
that I had no knowledge, and so far as I know, this 
was the only instance of "heartless oppression" that 
came to light while we remained in control in North 
Carolina. 

It was while stationed here that I was surprised to 
receive a commission of Brevet Brigadier General 
from Washington, at the recommendation of General 
Kilpatrick and General Sherman. I say surprised, 
because it was unexpected. I had never applied for 
that nor any other promotion during the war. 

My chief adviser in local affairs was Colonel Vic- 
tor Barringer, a prominent citizen and a leading law- 
yer in the state. He had served on the staff of his 
brother. Major General Rufus Barringer, a broth- 



IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER THE WAR. 221 

er-in-law of "Stonewall" Jackson, but who was 
at that time a prisoner at Fortress Monroe, having 
been captured in one of the recent battles near Rich- 
mond. The colonel had resigned from the service by 
failure of health. I found his counsel always wise 
and conservative, and the citizens were surprised and 
gratified at the treatment they received from the 
Yankees. 

I was frequently a guest at his home. Mrs. Bar- 
ringer was a delightful lady born in Philadelphia and 
jointly prided herself on her ability as a cook and 
housekeeper, although she complained that the war had 
destroyed the means of proving it. I told her that, 
on the contrary, it had given her the opportunity of 
demonstrating that fact under the most unfavorable 
circumstances. 

"But it has reduced us to poverty," she said, "and 
I don't know how we will be able to live." 

"Mrs. Barringer," I remarked, "I have a plan to 
help you. I have found as a rule that Southern 
women are not good cooks, all this being left to ser- 
vants. Most of them will now have to learn to do 
their own cooking, and I will make what might be 
called a Yankee suggestion — that you get up a south- 
ern cook book adopted to southern conditions. We 
have plenty of these in the North, but the field is 
open for them in the South and you can supply the 
want." "Do you think so?" she said. "I have been 
wondering how I could help the colonel, and I believe 
I will try." 



222 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Mrs. Barringer published the Southern Cook 
Book. She sent me a half dozen copies for which I 
sent her $5.00. 

The Barringers of North Carolina were of an old 
Whig family of the Henry Clay school. They did 
not favor secession in the beginning, but finally yielded 
to the pressure and entered the service. The colonel 
read me some letters from his brother in prison in 
which he took strong grounds in favor of a reunited 
country, and urged his brother to co-operate with the 
powers at Washington to re-organize civil government 
in the South. 

At that time I had been named as one of the three 
delegates from the army to attend the Republican 
Convention at Columbus, Ohio, to present the name of 
our Department Commander, General Jacob D. Cox, 
for governor. 1 stated to the colonel that a man of his 
brother's prominence entertaining such views, should 
be among his friends at home rather than confined in 
a prison, and that with his consent I would take the 
letters with me to Washington and submit them to 
ex-governor Dennison, then Postmaster General; 
which I did, explaining the situation in North Caro- 
lina as I found it. And General Barringer was soon 
released by order of the president. 

I met him subsequently in Chicago as a delegate to 
the National Convention which nominated General 
Garfield for president. My friend, Colonel Barringer, 
stood high as a constitutional lawyer and was after- 
wards selected by President Johnson as one of a com- 



IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER THE WAR. 223 

mission to revise the statutes of the United States, and 
he took up his residence in Washington. Some years 
afterwards the Khedive of Egypt, after a visit to the 
leading nations of Western Europe, imbibed modern 
ideas of government and invited France, England and 
the United States each to select a man to be ap- 
pointed on a commision of three to revise the laws of 
Egypt. Colonel Barringer was selected as the United 
vStates representatives. He removed to Cairo where, 
after some years, the commission completed that 
arduous work. Here the colonel and his good wife 
remained until his death some years ago, after which 
Mrs. Barringer made her home in Washington where 
I had the privilege and pleasure of spending a most 
interesting afternoon in her company five years ago. 

On July 26, 1865, our regiment was mustered out 
of service. All government property in our charge 
was turned over, and with happy hearts we entered a 
train of box cars on our way home. 

The last act of vandalism however was committed 
against the state of Virginia. But it was perpetrated 
in view of her stubborn resistance during the war. 
As the long train was passing alongside of a water 
melon patch in that proud state, in water melon time, 
two of the rear cars, by some accident, became de- 
tached from the train which continued at least a half 
mile before the conductor discovered the accident. In 
the meantime, the boys, instead of trying to stop the 
train, broke for the water melon patch. When the 
train got back the vandals placed a guard over the engi- 



224 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

neer to keep him quiet until each one had received a 
reasonable share of Virginia water melons for himself 
and friends. The engineer was released, and a shout 
went up, "Good Bye, Johnnies." 

A steamboat was waiting at Fortress Monroe to 
take us to Baltimore. After spending a part of a day 
we were placed on a B. & O. R. R. train of good 
passenger cars for home. Word had gone out that 
we were coming, and when we crossed the Ohio river 
our regimental flag was raised on the leading car. One 
or two companies had been recruited in the east part 
of the state and as the train came to the different 
stations, crowds were waiting for us. We were re- 
ceived by waiting friends with mingled shouts and 
tears on both sides. Tears of joy — for sorrows were 
put away under the wonderful fact that the war was 
over and we were coming home. 

We reached Camp Chase where we rested a day 
and were paid ofif in greenbacks, which our services 
had helped to make good. Many photographs were 
taken and exchanged, and our hearts at parting over- 
flowed with an emotion which few generations of men 
are permitted to feel. 

I stood at the gate to shake hands with the boys 
as they passed out, and many of them laughed through 
their tears as they said, "Good bye. Colonel." 

That night I gave a supper at the American Hotel 
to my officers who had, while in Baltimore, been kind 
enough to procure a beautiful table service of silver 



IN NORTH CAROLINA AFTER THE WAR. 22'5 

as a parting memento, on which they had engraved 
the legend, 

"A true soldier and a gentleman are synonymous" 

that being, as they said, the motto I had always im- 
pressed upon my command and which formed the 
basis in my scheme of deportment. I speak of it now, 
after fifty years, that the few survivors of those dark 
and lawless days may recall the motto that inspired 
the high order of discipline that had made punishment 
almost a stranger in the ranks of the Ninth Ohio Vol- 
unteer Cavalry. 



15 



CHAPTER 26. 

Subsequent Trip to the South. 

After the excitement that followed the close of the 
war had subsided, I began to take stock to learn what 
there was for me to do. Of my young contem- 
poraries at the Zanesville Bar of five years before, few 
had offered their services to the country, but had de- 
voted themselves to their profession and now con- 
trolled the legal business in the county. Besides I 
found conditions had so changed the statutory laws as 
well as the practice that it would be necessary to begin 
my studies again. 

To me at thirty-three years of age, having given my 
energies exclusively to an entirely different line of 
thought, the practice of the law had lost its attraction, 
especially when I thought that I would have to take 
my place at the ''foot of the class." 

After the death of my father in September 15th, 
1861, my brother John took charge of our home af- 
fairs. The home family now consisted of our mother 
with the two younger daughters. Our oldest sister, 
Marion, the little Scotch heroine of the Ohio Canal 
episode, and her sister Anne, our first Buckeye rel- 
ative, were both happily married, leaving the two 
younger sisters in my brother's charge. 

While in the service I sent home each pay day 

(226) 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 227 

most of my salary, to my brother. This he wisely 
invested, so that when the war closed he turned over 
to me the accumulated amount which, with my inter- 
est in the estate, amounted to $12,000. 

While sitting in my hotel puzzling over my plans 
for the future, General Willard Warner, an old New- 
ark friend of mine and late of General Sherman's 
staff, aroused me saying, "Hamilton, what are you 
thinking about?" When I told him and asked him 
the same question, he said he had received a letter 
from his brother-in-law, General W. B. Wood, of 
Newark, who was then on the staff of his brother, 
General Charles Wood, of Newark, then in command 
at Mobile, Alabama, stating that fine plantations in 
the South were offered for very low prices, and sug- 
gesting that he come down and invest. ''When and 
which way do you think of going?" I asked. He 
said, ''On Tuesday next." After a further talk I told 
him I would go. 

After a pleasant visit with General Sherman at St. 
Louis, we proceeded to Mobile, Alabama. Here we 
arranged with General Wood our plans which were 
that we would visit and examine certain plantations 
which we found advertised for sale, and if we de- 
cided on anything, the purchase would be made on 
the basis of four distinct interests. The fourth to be 
taken by Captain Wright, of Granville, late Quarter- 
master of General Wood's regiment, the 78th O. V. 
Infantry, who had the most money. Every 
night we would look over the advertisements and select 



228 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the places each would examine. This campaign was 
interesting and instructive but not very profitable. We 
found the men discouraged and the women bitter. In 
a feeling of pique they had offered their homes for 
sale, but not to the Yankees. 

One evening we read a very attractive description 
of the home of Lieutenant General Stephen D. Lee, 
late of the Confederate army, and cousin to General 
Robert E. Lee. It was decided that I should call 
and examine the place. I got a horse, and after riding 
some miles, I came to Cjuite a beautiful place. I asked 
a fine looking gentleman who appeared on the veranda 
if this was w^here General' Lee lived. "That is my 
name, sir" he replied. "Will you come in ?" I hitched 
my horse and told him my business. He invited me 
into his office. I told him about seeing his advertise- 
ment and that I had come out to see the place. 

The general was tall, fine looking, of easy manners 
and cordial address. He gave me a detailed descrip- 
tion of the plantation, but was rather slow about nam- 
ing the price. I had told him my name and that I was 
from Ohio. The universal topic of the times was dis- 
cussed and the forlorn condition of the South, but 
he had hardly determined to give up his home, which 
fact he discovered when the test was made. 

After spending an hour with the general in which 
we discussed the war and its results very freely and 
quite pleasantly, I arose to leave. He said, "Not at 
all. I will have your horse put away and you will stay 
to dinner." This was arranged although it was not 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 229 

eleven o'clock, and the longer I stayed the more I was 
pleased with my visit. 

When dinner was announced I was introduced to 
Mrs. Lee as Mr. Hamilton from Ohio. Mrs. Lee was 
a typical Southern lady, elegant in her manner and 
lively in conversation. 

The war was the topic at the table. She gave her 
opinion freely of the Yankees. Said she had never 
met any of them and hoped she never would, certainly 
not as a guest in her own house. The general, who 
was seated at one side, looked over at me with a mis- 
chievous smile. I laid down my fork and knife, 
turned, and looking at her and solemnly remarked. 

"Mrs. Lee, if you did but know it, you have one 
at your table right now. I fought you four years." 

Shaking her finger at me with a suspicious twinkle 
of her eye, she said, 'T suspected it all the time." 

"Yes," said I, "and I fought you well too. Your 
folks had sixty-five chances to shoot me and never hit 
me but once and that was a poor shot." 

"Yes," she replied, looking at me up and down, 
leisurely, "it certainly was a very poor shot." 

"I thought so myself, at the time said I, "but you 
must remember, Mrs. Lee, that a man can't make a 
very good shot, when he has to turn around to take 
aim" ! 

A hearty laugh from the General and a disgusted 
smile from Mrs. Lee closed the discussion. 

I discovered that, after all, these southern planters 
were not anxious to sell their homes. Their adver- 



230 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

tisements were rather designed to impress the outside 
world with the ruin produced in southern homes by 
northern invasion. 

I spent the next Sunday in Montgomery where I 
attended services in the Presbyterian church. It 
was the leading church and the finest congrega- 
tion in the city. I was given a seat and in looking 
around I wondered if this was a masquerade. I never 
saw a congregation so strangely dressed. Four years 
of blockade, during which few attempts had been 
made to get in suitable clothing, had driven the 
ladies to utilize anything in their homes that they 
could convert into wearing apparel. Window curtains, 
lambrequins and bed linen helped to compose the ma- 
terial of which some of their dresses and bonnets 
were made. The men presented a little better appear- 
ance as they had resorted to cast-ofif suits which were 
passable. But I noticed the aged minister had on an 
old broadcloth coat, a relic of better days. 

I do not remember the text, but I think it was 
taken from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. The ser- 
mon was an argument to convince his hearers and him- 
self that there was a God. (But why He had forsaken 
them in their sore calamity he could not understand.) 
"For the past four years," he said, ''prayers have gone 
up from thousands of our churches and from tens of 
thousands of our family altars for the success of our 
cause. But here we are apparently all broken and 
forsaken. Notwithstanding all this, I still cling to the 
beliefs that there is a God and that God is just. I 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 23I 

will cling- to that belief; but why he has deserted us 
in this, our sore extremity, is more than I can con- 
ceive. It may be right, and my faith in God compels 
me to concede that it must be right, though you 
and I, my beloved friends, may never live to see the 
merciful justice of it all, we must at least pray that 
these little children may." 

This dear old man seemed to forget that in the 
far off North there were far more than a thousand 
churches and ten thousand family altars from which 
ascended prayers that our beloved country might be 
brought through the dark gloom, relieved from the 
deadly cancer that came with its birth. Again he 
might have remembered that the government of 
Heaven is not a republic, where justice is determined 
by the vote of the majority, but we are taught that it 
is a kingdom, governed by a King, which after all is 
the ideal form of government, provided we could find 
a king who, like the King of Heaven, is all-wise, all- 
just, unchangeable, without avarice, and who will live 
forever. We are taught to ofifer prayer to our Ruler 
in Heaven not that it will change his course toward 
us, butj it is designed to change our course toward 
"H]im> Who Changeth Not," that through the study of 
His character we may become more like Him. 

I. heard that sermon nearly fifty years ago. His 
prayer has come true ; the children of that gloomy hour 
now see the light and recognize the wisdom of^ the 
only Ruler that makes no mistakes. 



232 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

During my visit to Montgomery I took occasion to 
call on Governor Patton of Florence, Ala., to whom 
I had given some damaged horses when stationed 
there. He was President of the Senate when the state 
seceded, which, as an old line Whig, he opposed, 
but finally went with the state during the war. He, 
however, strongly favored acceptance of the result and 
was nominated and elected governor on the Union 
ticket and was inaugurated two days before I arrived. 

When I called at' the Capitol I was told by the 
janitor that unless I had special business with the Gov- 
ernor I could not be admitted, as he and the Military 
Governor, Parsons, with their staffs were busy adjust- 
ing matters in the senate room up stairs. I told him 
I had no business, but on leaving took a card and 
asked him to hand it to Governor Patton, after which 
I took a look at the beautiful surroundings of this, the 
first Capital of the Confederacy. 

I soon heard a call and saw the janitor waving his 
arm saying that he had instructions to bring me up. 
As I entered the senate door, Governor Patton, and 
his staff were seated at desks on one side of the cham- 
ber and the Military Governor, Parsons and staff on 
the other. The governor left his seat and shook hands 
with me in the middle of the floor; then turned and 
called, "Parsons, come here. Come up here all of 
you on both sides. I want to introduce you to a Yan- 
kee, and it gives me pleasure to say to him in your 
presence and to you in his presence that he and his 
command did more to reconcile northern Alabama to 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 233 

the new order of things than he knows of — for he 
proved to us that there were gentlemen in the North." 
We shook hands all around, and it has 
given me pleasure to think that those three 
sore backed horses at Florence helped to give a 
Union Governor to Alabama. While here I learned 
of a beautiful plantation, consisting of 1,500 acres on 
the Alabama river. It belonged to a Mr. Pratt, a 
northern carpenter who came south years ago and 
amassed a fortune making cotton gins, and who had 
gone north to try to raise funds to bridge over the 
financial depression, but had authorized his son-in-law, 
Mr. De Bartinlaben to sell the river plantation. This 
eentleman drove me out to see the place. It was divided 
into forty acre lots enclosed by osage-orange hedges. 
The land was level, sloping down to the river and 
could be bought for $15,000 which we considered 
cheap. 

At this time I learned that an old navy friend of 
mine had died suddenly while in charge of the steam- 
boat transportation of captured cotton stored along 
the rivers, and I was asked by letter from his widow 
to go to New Orleans to look after his affairs. 

My friends concluded to await the return of Mr. 

Pratt. 

I took a steamboat on the Alabama river for 
Mobile, en route for New Orleans. The night was 
rather cold and the accommodations poor. I found a 
seat by a stove in a large, empty room, and wrapped 
myself in my overcoat, pulled my soft hat down to my 



234 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

eyes and made myself as comfortable as I could. Sit- 
ting around the stove I noticed a half dozen men, 
evidently ex-Confederate soldiers from twenty-five to 
thirty years of age, bronzed looking and bearded. 
They were putting in the time telling stories of 
the war. Across from them a young man was seated. 
He seemed to be about eighteen years of age, six feet 
tall and would weigh about two hundred pounds. He 
was listening intently to the stories he heard and 
finally joined by saying: 
/^ ''I reckon, boys, I've killed as many Yankees as 

^ \(^" any of you." 

' When asked what battles he was in, he said, "I 

\^ wasn't in none." They asked how he came to kill so 

many Yankees. He replied, 'T was a guard at Ande£- 

\ sonville and was instructed when a damned Yankee 

got across the dead line to shoot him, and I obeyed 

orders." 

I had been sitting quietly listening. When this 
young man got ofif the story of his Andersonville 
work, I sized up the men who heard him and decided 
that they had been good soldiers. 

"Well, boys," said I, ''I reckon I have heard the 
whistle of as many Yankee bullets as any of you, and 
I say that any man that could do a thing Hike that 
and then brag about it has no business in the company 
of brave men." 

In the silence which followed one could have heard 
a pin drop. The men looked at the Andersonville 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 235 

hero, at each other, and then at me, and one of them 
remarked, 

"Damned if I don't agree with that sentiment." 

Soon the young man left the room and was seen no 
more that night. I was detained 6 weeks in New Or- 
leans. 

In the meantine, on the return of Mr. Pratt, the 
cotton plantation was bought for $15,000 cash, Mr. 
Wright advancing most of the money, and I found 
on my return that he inclined to keep a half interest, 
which left me out. To this I did not object, as I 
had changed my plans. 

Since then I learned that Mr. De Bartinlaben in- 
vested the $15,000 in mineral land where Birming- 
ham now stands, and had made and lost two or 
three fortunes. 

After two years trial the cotton plantation proved 
a failure ; the first year the Alabama river flooded it — 
the second year the cotton worm took the crop. In the 
meantime however General W. B. Wood, who had 
been a leading lawyer at home, was appointed U. S. 
District Judge in Alabama by President Johnson. He 
afterwards was elevated to the Supreme Bench of the 
United States by President Hiayes. General Willard 
Warner became a citizen of Alabama and repre- 
sented that state in the United States Senate. 

I think however, I have been more fortunate than 
either of them., for I came home and married, May 
loth, 1866. Miss Sarah Cheiver Abbot an ante-war 
friend, one of the fairest and brightest of Zanesville's 



236 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

lovely daughters, of an old New England family. My 
Alabama associates are both dead, while we are blest 
with four affectionate children and six grandchildren, 
lovely boys and girls in whose healthy veins there 
flows the untainted blood of Bannockburn and 
Bunker Hill combined, and during forty-eight years 
neither death nor a family sorrow has ever cast a 
shadow on our home. 

In the spring of 1867 we moved to Newark, Ohio, 
and went into business with an old family friend. 
This was merged into the coal and iron busi- 
ness in the Hocking Valley. Afterwards with some 
friends I took a trip through the South which re- 
sulted in making an investment near Knoxville, Ten- 
nessee, which has caused me to spend a large part of 
my time in East Tennessee. I have thus become fairly 
well acquainted with the physical and political con- 
ditions of that region. By reason of this business con- 
nection I have made many very pleasant business and 
social acquaintances, especially among the old soldiers 
of both the Blue and the Gray, and have heard a num- 
ber of interesting incidents illustrating the condition 
of things, especially of the mountain people of the 
South. 

When we entered Knoxville in August, 1863, 
under Gen. Burnside, it was an active town of about 
five thousand inhabitants. Being located on the 
border line, it had developed some very able and 
bold men on both sides of the great issue. When the 
war was over the citizens united in an effort to attract 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 237 

capital and enterprise to that locality. In May, 1895, 
among other things it was arranged to hold a reunion 
of the Blue and the Gray. 

The committee of arrangements invited General 
Longstreet to represent the South, and General Gib- 
son of Ohio was asked to represent the North. Gen- 
eral Longstreet was selected because he commanded 
the twenty thousand men (known as one of the best 
corps in the Southern Army) to retake the city from 
Burnside, which, after a bloody siege, he failed to 
do and for which he was censured. At the reunion 
he had a paper defending himself, read by his sec- 
retary, as, by reason of a wound in the neck, he could 
not read aloud. It was the impression of a good 
many of the Southern people that General Long- 
street's dislike to Davis rather interfered with his 
energy in this campaign, which was against his judg- 
ment. 

A great crowd of the old boys, both of the Gray 
and the Blue, attended the reunion. Alen, women and 
children lined the streets, and a most cordial feeling 
was everywhere shown. The great hall was crowded 
and General Gibson received a hearty cheering as he 
took the stand. He appeared at his best and was 
unusually happy in his style, even for him. 

He aroused the greatest enthusiasm between the 
Blue and the Gray when he said, "Boys, there was 
never a battle fought during four years of one of the 
most wonderful wars in history in which Americans 
did not get the best of it. And no better evidence of 



238 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the courage of both sides could be given than the fact 
that the result produced no arrogance on one side nor 
humility on the other, but developed a mutual respect 
and friendship between the sections that nothing but 
such a war between brave men could produce." 

At the close of the public ceremonies carriages 
were furnished and the visiting strangers were taken 
to different places of interest, including the home of 
the widow of that dauntless defender of the Union, 
Parson Brownlow. Mrs. Brownlow was a bright and 
vigorous woman who most heartily sustained her hus- 
band in his fight for the Union. She died during the 
month of January, 191 3, at the age of ninety-five. 
^ General Longstreet expressed a desire to visit his 
old headquarters, which, at the time of the siege, was 
about two miles from town, the home of a prominent 
Union family by the name of Armstrong who still 
owned the property. 

It was from the cupola of this fine, brick house 
that one of Longstreet's sharp shooters, at a range of 
three-fourths of a mile, killed General Saunders, 
commanding the skirmish line of the Union Cavalry. 

Mrs. Armstrong, at the time of Longstreet's ad- 
vance, was alone with a pair of little twin children, 
her husband having been taken by the enemy. She 
was a brilliant, high-spirited woman. When Long- 
street's staff took possession of the house, they as- 
signed her a back room for herself with her children 
and the nurse. They took charge of everything else 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 239 

without consulting her, and she was very free in ex- 
pressing her opinion of their actions in appropriating 
her bed room, kitchen, furnishings and household sup- 
plies, all of which she opposed with a good deal of 
energy. But when they took charge of her silver 
chest she expressed herself with so much vigor that 
they told her if she did not go to her room and 
keep still they would send her husband through the 
lines where she might never see him again. She re- 
plied with undaunted spirit, ''Well, do so if you think 
best, but leave that chest. I could get another hus- 
band a good deal easier than I could get another silver 
chest like that." The young gentleman of the staff 
laughingly acknowledged they were beaten and let 
her keep the silver. 

When on this later visit, the carriages drove up to 
the door, Mrs. Armstrong met General Longstreet, 
and, giving him her hand with a smile of welcome said, 
*'Well, General Longstreet, on your last visit to my 
house I was sorry to see you come and glad to see 
you go, but this time I am glad to see you come and 
shall be sorry to see you go." 

She then invited us into the parlor and showed the 
general the bullet holes in the window panes made 
during his former visit, and carefully patched since 
then; also where they struck the plaster in the wall 
opposite, and where the bullet holes still remain. 

Mrs. Armstrong was still living four years ago 
(1910) and I had the pleasure of meeting her at Mont 



240 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Vale Springs. She was apparently as full of life as 
ever and talked over former times with her old time 
animation. 

THE LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 

The following incident illustrating the character 
and loyalty of the mountain people was given me by 
my friend Hon. Will. A. McTeer, former major in the 
7th Tennessee Union Cavalry, now a prominent lawyer 
of Marysville, Blount County, and I have ventured 
to insert the following lines as a prelude to a beautiful 
story. 

From the Great Smoky Mountains where Braves met in 
Council, 

And pines cleave the clouds where the thunder is born ; 
Where the eagle's scream answered the wail of the panther, 

And rocks in the storm from their moorings are torn ; 

Down through the gorges the wild torrent rushes 
To gladden the coves where dark laurel grows; 

Where the sweet scented muscadine twines on the bushes, 
And the valleys are green where the Tennessee flows; 

Here the wigwam once sheltered the proud Cherokee; 

Now cabins are standin<j where Saxons are found; 
Here the rifle and axe taught their sons to be free, 

And foes should take care how they tramp on their 
ground. 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 2^1 

AMONG LOYAL MOUNTAINEERS. 

Honoring the Stars and Stripes in East Tennessee Saved 
THE Lives of Confederates. 

By Will A. McTeer, Marysville, Tenn. 

At the outbreak of the civil war the people of East Ten- 
nessee adhered almost solidly to the Union. The valley, 
nested among the mountains, through which one of the prin- 
cipal lines of railway ran, connecting the ends of the Con- 
federacy, and situated near the heart of the proposed new 
Government, was an important position. The loyalty of the 
people to the old flag was a menace to the Confederates, and 
a cause of bitterness and anxiety. The authorities made the 
great mistake of endeavoring to force the loyal men of the 
mountains to the support of the cause. Hatred most intense 
was the result, and many men died rather than yield to the 
pressure brought to bear upon them. 

The Confederate authorities first attempted to disarm 
the people, and for this purpose sent troops through the 
country, taking up the hunting rifles wherever they could be 
found. These rifles were as dear as the apple of the eye to 
the mountain men. From the days that Daniel Boone "cilled 
the bar" in 1760, on the Wautauga, to the beginning of the 
war, it was regarded as a matter of household necessity that 
each male inhabitant from 18 years and upwards should own 
a rifle. 

Shooting matches were held, where the men of a whole 
community met and practiced marksmanship, and the best 
marksman was an honored man, while the poor marksman 
was regarded with something akin to disgust. From these 
practice matches they got to loving their guns as the lover 
esteems his sweetheart. 

So they regarded any interference with the right to own 
and keep their hunting rifles as an unwarranted interference 

16 



2^42 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

with the divine rights inherited by American citizens, which 
none dare question. 

As the clouds of war grew darker, and the thunders 
from the battlefields pealed louder throughout the land, this 
loyal element within the boundaries claimed by the Con- 
federacy became more and more a menace and object of 
hatred on the part of the Confederates, which hatred was 
fully reciprocated. The Union men first met boldly and fre- 
quently for counsel and "muster" or drilling. These gather- 
ings were provoking to the Confederacy, and steps were taken 
as speedily as possible to put a stop to them. As armed, 
equipped and trained soldiers were stationed in the the 
country, the meetings of loyalists were necessarily more 
secret. 

There was something remarkable that so many persons 
could keep a secret so well as did the loyalists in regard to 
when and where they would gather. 

One of these meetings was held just above Little River 
Gap, in Chilhowee Mountain, in Blount County. It was very 
near the present site of the town of Walland. A more beau- 
tiful place could scarcely be found. The mountain peaks run 
high above the little plateau, east, west and south, while the 
limpid waters of the river come rushing by like molten 
crystals, the soft murmurings mingling with the gentle moun- 
tain zephyrs, filling the place, with sweet melodies and in- 
spiring the spirit of patriotism and liberty. At that time the 
locality was sparsely settled, the inhabitants dwelling in little 
log mountain houses, but with spirits of loyalty and patriotism 
as unconquerable as death itself. 

On one occasion there were something like 1,500 men 
meit there from the coves and adjacent country. To add to 
the interest of the occasion, as well as to keep the fires of 
patriotism burning the brighter, there was a flag raising. A 
tall and beautiful pole was brought to the spot, and a large 
and well made flag— the old stars and stripes— sewed together 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 243 

in secret by some of the loyal women, was attached to that 
pole, and it was reared and planted there, where the men 
of the locality could climb the hills about them, and with 
tender and loving emotions look upon the old flag and in 
their retirement give vent to feelings of love for the banner 
that had led their fathers to victory up the sides of King's 
mountain. 

The writer was then only seventeen years old, but was 
present and took part in the flag raising; while his father, 
being one of the militia colonels, was drillmaster, and, rather, 
master of ceremonies. That was a big day and will never 
be forgotten while any of the parties who were there are 
living. At that time a company of Confederate cavalry was 
stationed at Marysville, the county seat, and was scouring the 
country for rifles, taking them wherever they could be found. 

In 1873 the writer was a delegate and in attendance at 
the International Sabbath School Convention held in Atlanta. 
The delegates were seated by states, a banner being placed 
to show where each was to sit. At an interval a delegate 
from the Florida delegation inquired for East Tennessee 
delegation. He was informed that the writer was from East 
Tennessee, and from Blount County. Smiling, he said, "Why 
I once knew every hog path in that county! My name is 
White, and I am a brother of Capt. White, who commanded 
a company of cavalry, taking in the guns in Blount County, 
in the early part of the war. I was a lieutenant in the com- 
pany." He then related some of his experiences in the county, 
and said that he had an experience that was striking and 
beautiful, and as well as can be remembered, the story will 
be given in his own words : 

'T was ordered one day to take a detachment of men 
and go to Tuckaleechee Cove, and take up all the rifles of 
the Union men in that locality. I was boarding at the time 
with Judge Wallace, over on the hill, east of the town, who 
resided in a brick house. I ordered the detachment of men 
to prepare for the march, with rations, and mounting my 



2f44 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

horse rode over to the Wallace residence to get something 
I wanted to take along. Being in readiness and about to 
mount my horse for starting, the Judge came up, having 
heard by some means of the order that had been given me. 
He told me that he had a request to make. He said, 'As 
you pass up Little River, through Chilhowee Gap, just as 
you emerge from the narrow mountain pass between the 
points of the mountain peaks, at the left side of the road, 
you will find the Stars and Stripes floating from a tall pole. 
Now, let me ask you not to disturb that flag. The mountain 
men placed it there; it belongs to them, and if you leave it 
undisturbed, you will be kindly treated on your trip; but 
as sure as you touch it or interfere with it, you will have to 
get out of those mountains. Now, don't disturb it.' 

"I said nothing to the men about it, and as we went up 
the narrow defile, suddenly we came to the opening, and there 
floated at the top of a tall pole the Stars and Stripes in all 
its grandeur. I looked around and saw a number of the men 
with their guns raised as if to shoot, I halted the squad and 
made them a little speech, telling them to lower their guns. 
That was the flag under which we were born, and under 
which our fathers had fought, and many of them died. While 
we were then engaged in efforts to establish a new Govern- 
ment, and were fighting under a new flag, still, that was the 
flag of our fathers and let us honor it for its history and 
for the memory of the blood poured out so freely by our 
brave ancestors in its defense ; that, instead of doing it any 
injury, I proposed that we salute it. 

"Then, following my leadership, they rode in single file, 
forming a circle around the pole, when we lifted our hats, 
and reverently bowed our heads. Tears streamed down the 
faces of a number of the men as we stood in this attitude 
before the old flag. Silently the circle was broken, and 
forming, twos, we went on. We knew nothing of any one 
being in sight, but the news of our saluting the flag went 
faster than we traveled, and appeared to be known almost 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 245 

spontaneously all over that Tuckaleechee Cove. We were 
never treated with more hospitality and kindness by any 
people. They prepared us dinners of the best they had, fed 
our horses, took us into their homes, and were lavish in 
their acts of kindness. But they did not bring out their guns, 
and we could not find them. 

"We afterwards learned that honoring that old flag had 
saved us from a bloody reception, where it would have been 
almost a miracle if any of our party would have been left 
to tell our side of a sanguinary contest, and instead had led 
us to a most kind and hospitable treatment. As we stood 
around and saluting the flag, without our knowledge, we 
stood inside of the trap ready set, and all that was needed 
was for us to spring the trigger, by any insult that we might 
officer to that banner." 

To the mind of the writer there are few stories of the 
war of more touching beauty. The personal knowledge of 
the writer of the truth of part of the story, to his mind, 
makes it the more charming, and he has all reason to believe 
that the entire story is true in every particular. It is one of 
the few instances where a scene of tender pathos stands out 
in the grim visages of dreadful war, as the face o^a lovely 
maiden in the den of lions. " 

Major McTeer states that when the war was on these 
mountaineers put their rifles above their cabin doors and 
entered the Union army. Their wives and daughters kept up 
the work on the farm — planting corn, making fence and feed- 
ing stock. They formed a rifle company and every Saturday 
took down the family guns for drill and rifle practice. 

They kept a mounted detail to scout the country to 
gather news and watch for strangers. 

When it was known that Sherman's forces were coming 
from Chattanooga to meet Longstreet and relieve General 
Burnside's men in Knoxville, this entire company in com- 
mand of their captain, a lady cousin of Major McTeer's, as- 



2^46 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

sembled in line to salute the marching column and received 
the ringing cheers of the boys as they passed. 

After Appomattox when the tables were turned, in- 
stances of retaliation were not infrequent, some- 
times assisted by a rather liberal interpretation of the 
law. 

I became acquainted with a prominent land owner 
on the Little Tennessee river by the name of Boyd 
McMurray, and had occasion to look into the title 
to his farm. I learned that during the war this 500- 
acre farm, of which 200 acres was fine bottom land, 
was owned by a ''southern sympathizer", who had 
two sons in the Southern Army. Another man in the 
same county, had no farm, but had a son a ser- 
geant in the Union Cavalry. 

One evening when returning along the river with 
a scouting party, the sergeant stopped to get some 
corn fodder in a field for their horses. One of the 
farmer's sons, who happened to be at home, shot the 
sergeant from behind a distant tree. The party has- 
tened to camp and gave the alarm. The captain 
mounted his men and dashed back to the place. The 
man who did the shooting was gone, but the dead 
sergeant was found lying in the cabin of a darkey, 
who said that the soldier who shot him dragged him 
by his hair to throw him into the river, but became 
alarmed and took to the woods. The darkey had 
brought the body to the cabin. The captain burned 
every building on the farm but the negro's cabin, and 
took the sergeant's body on a horse to camp. The 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. ^47 

owner of the farm fled with his family to North Caro- 
lina. 

After the war a damage suit was brought by the 
father of the sergeant against the father of the boy 
who shot him, and a judgment was obtained in the 
Court of Common Pleas for $4,000 damages, and the 
farm was sold at sheriff's sale to McMurray. 

During the war McMurray was a tenant; on an 
island farm belonging to Mr. McGhee, a member of 
a wealthy family, all of whom were ''southern sym- 
pathizers". In the fall of 1863, when the southern 
troops occupied the country, Mr. McMurray had a 
lot of hogs on the island feeding, which the commis- 
sary officers wanted to buy, but the cautious possessor 
of the McMurray name said that his hogs were feed- 
ing on corn which had to be fed on the island and 
that the hogs were not ready for market. Two weeks 
later, when we took Knoxville under General Burn- 
side, the hogs were found to be quite fat and ready 
for market, and McMurray, after a three days' drive 
of twenty miles, reached Knoxville with his hogs just 
ahead of Longstreet's army, and received $800 in 
honest greenbacks for them. 

After being penned up in the city for a week dur- 
ing the siege, he returned home with the money in his 
pocket and with his views of secession modified. This 
money he put out on interest until after war, and it 
enabled him to make the bid that got the farm where 
he still lives, and is one of the leading citizens and 
best farmers in the country. 



24S RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

This locality is filled with weird legends of by- 
gone days. Here, in full view of the "Gregory Bald" 
and "Fodder Stack" mountains, is where "Charles Ed- 
gar Caddock", that well known female writer, created 
the legend of "The Prophet of the Great Smoky 
Mountains." 

Here, during the war, a squad of North Carolina 
cavalry scooped down into the valley and captured an 
old Union soldier and started back across the moun- 
tains. They were pursued, and looking across a bend 
in the road near the top of the mountain, they saw 
the Union Cavalry in hot pursuit. As they found their 
captive in the way, they hastily tied him to a tree and 
shot him, then mounting their horses scattered among 
the rocks and made their escape. When their pur- 
suers reached the spot they found their comrade dead 
and his murderers beyond reach. They dug a hole 
as best they could and covered the body. Soon after- 
wards it was discovered that some animal had un- 
covered an arm and eaten the flesh ; ever since it has 
been regarded as a part of the religion of those loyal 
mountainers, in passing that lonely spot to lay another 
stone upon "Shaw's Grave." 

The besetting sin of the honest mountaineers was, 
and still is, "Apple Jack" and corn whiskey. They 
claim that their heavy monotonous food creates a de- 
sire for a stimulant which the lack of food variety 
fails to supply. 

After the war I made the acquaintance of Mr. 
George Powell of Chestnut Flats in the mountains 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 249 

forty miles from Knoxville, a leading citizen, a man 
of fine appearance and more than ordinary natural 
ability, who owned a large apple orchard in that lo- 
cality which was unfailing in producing a large crop 
of apples. 

''Before the war," he said, "the nearest market for 
them was over a rough mountain road forty miles to 
Knoxville. A trip there with anything we could raise 
would bring a poor return for the time and trouble 
of making it. Our apples and corn were converted into 
"Apple Jack" and corn whiskey, and the offal fed to 
hogs. The hogs and whiskey could be got to market 
and were the only product of our farms for which we 
could get money to pay our taxes and buy what little 
store goods and ammunition we needed — for we had 
plenty of game." 

Before the opening of the war, Mr. Powell exerted 
a strong influence for the Union. When Governor 
Harris of Tennessee ordered the second vote on the 
question of secession, he brought a home-made flag 
with him to the polls and nailed it above the door of 
the voting place in the presence of the crowd, in 
which there were some strangers; then stepping 
aside with his gun (they all had them) he said, 
"Boys, that is the old Stars and Stripes. My 
sisters and I made it yesterday and I have nailed it 
above that door today. It is the only flag we know, 
and I'll simply say that if any man should attempt to 
tear it down, I'll kill him." There was no disturb- 



250 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

ance that day for Powell was known as one of the 
best shots in the mountains. 

When the war came he and many of his neighbors 
promptly volunteered in the 3rd. Tennessee Union 
Regiment. Before the regiment left camp the colonel 
ordered it out for a shooting match, and fifty of the 
best marksmen were selected as sharp shooters under 
the lead of George Powell, who rendered distinguished 
services until the close of the war. 

"When the war was over," he said, "my comrades 
and I came back to what was left of our mountain 
homes and returned to our former method of life. A 
tax had been put on whiskey and it had gone up in 
price. Highly encouraged we began its manufacture 
as before the war. It was a great surprise to us when 
the government officers came and took our whiskey 
and destroyed our stills. We became enraged to think 
that the government for which we had sacrificed all, 
should turn on us in that way. We got new stills and 
hid them in the mountains and continued our work 
at night, putting out pickets as we did during the war 
to give notice of the approach of the enemy. When 
one of us was captured and went to the penitentiary 
he went proudly without a whine, and after serving 
his time and returning, he was received more as a 
hero than a culprit. After paying several fines I got 
tired of that mode of life, and I was advised by the 
authorities who were my friends to take out a license 
properly that I might utilize my crop of apples. This 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 2$! 

I did for some years, but finally gave it up and have 
advised my friends to do the same, as it induces a 
violation of law and is an injury to the neighborhood." 

I traveled on one occasion with a very respectable 
looking middle aged man. When I told himi I was 
from Ohio he said Ohio was a great state, and he 
was surprised to see such fine land and beautiful 
homes on the railroad between Cincinnati and Cleve- 
land. He thought it finer than New York. I re- 
marked, 

** You have been in New York, then, have you ?" 

''Yes," he said, "I have been through there twice. 
I had a son in New York." 

We had become quite sociable and I asked him in 
what business his son was engaged. He replied with- 
out a blush. 

"He was in the State Penitentiary three years for 
moonshining." 

In many cases it seems like the height of ingrati- 
tude for our government to treat these mountaineers 
in this manner. Still, there is a redeeming side to it. 

Some years ago when at home I went with some 
friends to our State prison in Columbus to see a convict 
from that locality in Tennessee with which I was fa- 
miliar. It was during work hours, but I called for the 
surgeon, a friend of mine, whose call for a prisoner is 
not confined to leisure hours. I told him we had come 
to see a prisoner belonging to a locality in Tennessee 
from which I had just come and known at home as 
"Cale" Hughes. 



^52 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

When he was brought we found a big strong man, 
twenty-five years old. He knew me and asked about 
the folks on Chestnut Flats. He said he had not 
heard from them since he came here a year ago. 
'*When you go back and see my folks, tell my wife 
that I am well, get plenty to eat and weigh 190 pounds. 
I weighed only 160 pounds when I came." 

One of my friends remarked, ''They must treat 
you pretty well here. What do you work at?" 

He said, 'In the hollow ware factory, and I am 
well treated." 

I remarked, "You don't get any whiskey now, do 
you?" 

"No, he replied, "but I am better without it." 

He was asked how much he drank at home. 

"Oh, I reckon," said he, "we used about two gal- 
lons a week." I told him that his step father was 
getting up a petition to get him out. 

"Well," said he, "tell him when you go down, not 
to do it. I would rather serve out my time, honest, 
I'm better here. I attend night school and am learn- 
ing to read. I couldn't read when I come, and now 
some good people come every Sunday to see us and 
give us books to read. No, tell Pap not to mind the 
petition. I would rather stay here and serve my time 
out, honest." 

I happened to be in Knoxville in 1892 at the time 
of the dedication of a monument to the memory of 
the confederate dead who fell during the campaigns 
around Knoxville. While here I had the opportunity 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 253 

and great pleasure of meeting the Confederate Lieu- 
tenant General E. Kirby Smith who had been invited 
to act as Grand Marshal on that occasion. After 
frightening Cincinnati and creating the ''Squirrel 
Hunters" he had been selected by the Powers at Rich- 
mond to take entire command of the Trans-Mississippi 
Department, after the Federal forces had secured con- 
trol of the river, and cut off communication beyond. 

After the catastrophe in the East and hearing the 
terms of surrender he accepted the same, disbanded 
his army and gave up the struggle. 

A large company attended the ceremonies at the 
dedication of the monument where the dead were 
buried. The marching column composed of both 
men and women, each with a bunch of flowers, pro- 
ceeded to the field of the dead. At my request I was 
given a bunch of white flowers and I marched arm in 
arm with a Confederate colonel near the head of the 
column and deposited my flowers at the base of the 
shaft as a token of my respect for the courage and 
devotion of the dead. 

An able and touching address was delivered by 
Honorable C. T. Gates Jr., of Knoxville, son of a Con- 
federate soldier, and since then Attorney General of 
the state. He gave a full measure of praise to the 
men of both armies, who in that tremendous struggle 
had displayed a devotion without selfishness and a 
courage without malice. 

General Smith was entertained at the hotel where 
i stopped. There was also a young Kentucky captain 



2'54 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

of the regular army at the hotel on recruiting service 
who was very much interested in General Smith. 
During our very pleasant interview the captain said 
he could not understand why it was that the Con- 
federates never followed up any of their victories. 
The general replied, ''1 have often thought of that 
myself. I have concluded that it was for two 
reasons : First, because the mettle of the men on both 
sides was so nearly the same that when we gained 
a victory we were generally too nearly exhausted to 
take proper advantage of it. The other was, as it 
now seems, that the Almighty was not in harmony 
with our purpose." 

The general then related a most interesting incident 
which, with southern gallantry he attributed to the 
great influence of women in important public affairs. 

Said he, ''One of the ablest and most earnest 
discussions on the question of the right of secession 
that I ever listened to was between Lieutenant Colonel 
R. E. Lee and Captain George H. Thomas shortly 
after the secession of South Carolina. Lee was 
Lieutenant Colonel in the 23rd U. S. Cavalry, I was 
a Major and Thomas, a Captain in the same regiment. 
This occurred in our regimental headquarters after the 
secession of South Carolina and I speak of it to 
illustrate the influence of women in the great affairs 
of life. Thomas favored secession ; Lee, with a 
calmer cast of mind, argued for the preservation of 
the Union. Both asked for and received six months' 
leave of absence. Lee went to Arlington, Virginia, 



SUBSEQUENT TRIP TO THE SOUTH. 255 

where he found his wife, family and friends all 
enthusiastic advocates of secession ; and he was finally 
persuaded to give his sword to the Confederacy 
against the earnest advice of General Scott. Captain 
Thomas went to Troy, New York, the home of his 
wife and friends. Here he was induced to change 
his mind; and he returned to Washington and took 
his orders from Lincoln. While I," he said, ''being 
from Florida believed with Thomas that I owed my 
duty first to my state. I met the argument that I had 
been educated at West Point by the fact that my 
state paid her share of the cost. In this doctrine I 
believed so honestly that when I received a letter from 
my nephew and namesake, E. Kirby Smith, of Ohio, 
who had just graduated from West Point, asking 
what he should do, I promptly wrote to him, 'Seek an 
assignment for duty in your state, and do all you can 
to maintain the reputation of your family, for the 
record shows that thirteen of our family were grad- 
uated at West Point and served with credit in. the 
Army of the United States." 

Young E. Kirby Smith took the advice of his 
uncle and received an appointment as Colonel of the 
43rd O. V. Infantry and served with great credit until 
he was killed in the battle of Corinth. 



CHAPTER 27. 

Visit to Florence, Alabama, Twenty-five Years 
After the War. 

While looking into the mineral resources of 
Alabama in the spring of 1889, I reached Florence on 
Saturday with a view of spending Sunday there. 

After dinner at the hotel I interviewed the land- 
lord, and learned that Mr. W. H. Key and his wife 
were still on the plantation, and that their daughters 
were all married. The oldest was the wife of Dr. 
Conner of that place. "Yonder he comes now," said 
the landlord. I went out and met three gentlemen 
and asked. 

"Which of you is Dr. Conner?" 

One of them replied, "I am Dr. Conner, Sah." 

"Well," said I, "Doctor, I was going to your house. 
Not to see you, however, but to see your wife." 

"Ah," said he, "are you an acquaintance of hers?" 

"I don't know whether I am or not. I was just 
going around to see. I once knew the family but it was 
a good while ago, and I don't know| whether your 
wife would remember me or not." 

He inquired my name. I told him it was Hamilton. 

"What, not Colonel Hiamikon from Ohio?" 

I replied that it was. He stopped and took my 

(256) 



VISIT TO FLORENCE, ALABAMA. 257 

hand, saying, "Is it possible? I have heard my wife 
talk about you a hundred times. Come right along." 

As we ^approached a neat cottage a lady was 
standing on the porch and the Doctor said, 

''Maggie, do you know this gentleman?" 

She looked at me and said, ''No, I do not." 

"Look again ; he says he used to know you a good 
while ago. Try if you can't remember him. He says 
his name is Hamilton." 

"What, Colonel Hamilton from Ohio?" 

She jumped from the low porch and met me with 
both hands extended, saying, 

"I am powerful glad to see you, Colonel. Come 
right in. When did you come and where are you 
stopping?" 

I told her. 

"Have you had dinner?" 

I told her I had. 

"Have you a grip or anything?" 

I said I had. 

She turned and said, "Doctor, send a boy to the 
hotel for the coloneFs grip. Now," she says, "come 
in and we'll have a talk. I have so much to say and 
ask. Father always comes up Saturday afternoon to 
see to his cotton bales and when he comes I will 
have no chance." 

She brought in her three children; the oldest a 
pretty girl nearly grown. 

"I wantf you to see them and want them to see 
you. They have heard about you so much." 

17 



2f58 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

The doctor was in the Confederate service when 
my command was there, but I found him a frank, 
open-hearted Southerner, and glad toi see me. 

In a short time Mr. Key was seen across the street 
among his cotton bales, the doctor said he would 
go and bring him over. I said I would go along. 

When we reached the cotton lot the doctor said, 
"Mr. Key, here is a gentleman who says he used to 
know you.'* 

He looked at me quite closely and said, 

"He has the advantage of me. I believe I don't 
know him." 

I did the same thing and said, "I don't know you 
either. There was a time, however, when we knew 
each other, but I notice it has been snowing around 
the heads of both of us since then." 

When the doctor told him my name, he let go his 
horse to greet me. 

"When did you come down ?" 

I told him. 

"H'ow long are you going to stay?" 

I said I thought to stay over Sunday if his people 
would let me. 

"Let you," said he, "you will stay with us two 
weeks at least and we will have a hunt. (He kept 
hounds). 

He then called up a colored man and said, 

"Jack, go home and tell your Mistress that Col- 
onel Hamilton from Ohio will be out to dine with us 
at six o'clock. Now, Colonel, we will go over to the 



VISIT TO FLORENCE^ ALABAMA. 259 

house for a while and see the folks there; then we 
will go down street. I usually go home about four, 
but we will not get off that soon today. You have 
friends who will want to see you, for you are re- 
membered here as one of the few cherished traditions 
of the war." 

It was Saturday afternoon and the streets were 
full of people, old and young. After an hour with the 
doctor's family, Mr. Key suggested that we go down 
street. 

The town was bordering on a boom and business 
was active. Some strangers were there, but most of 
the middle aged men were Confederate soldiers. 
Never in all my life was I the subject of such cordial 
greetings. I began to realize to some extent what the 
feelings of a hero might be. A new generation had 
come and I was one of the traditions of their child- 
hood. The boys and girls stood around and whispered 
to each other as they looked at me. I noticed a gentle- 
man coming who was introduced as Captain Patton, 
President of the First National Bank and son of 
Governor Patton, who was now dead. He said as he 
took my hand, 

" I want to shake hands with you Colonel Hamil- 
ton, for the kindness you showed my mother when 
I was in th^ army." 

I remarked, 'That is very nice of you, Captain, 
but really I don't remember showing her any special 
kindness." ' 

"Oh, no," said he, "I suppose not, but she does." 



260 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

"Well," I replied, ''I can account for all this only 
by the fact that I happened to be here at a time when 
a little kindness went a great ways." 

Shortly after that I was introduced to Captain 
Campbell, President of the Second National Bank, 
who came to tell me that his wife wanted to see me. 
I asked who his wife was. He replied that she was 
the daughter of Captain Coffee on whose place I had 
my cam.p. \ 

"Oh, yes, I remember." 

And as we were talking he said, "Yonder she 
comes now." 

I saw a colored man driving a carriage occupied 
by a very fine and handsomely dressed lady with a 
nice twelve year old boy at her side. We went out to 
the carriage and the captain began an introduction, to 
which I paid no attention, but reaching her my hand, 
said, 

"What became of that hat?" 

With a hearty laugh she said, "Do you remember 
that hat?" 

D told her I could never forget it in the world. 
She then introduced me to her son who was just 
about the age she was when she and I were engaged 
in the hat business. She asked how long I was going 
to stay. I said I thought of leaving on Monday. 

She said, "You will not do any such thing. I am 
going to make a dinner for you and it is to be next 
Thursday, and if I were to invite all your friends it 
would take all that time to get ready." 



VISIT TO FLORENCE, ALABAMA. 261 

At five o'clock Mr. Key got a horse and we rode 
out eight miles to his place and found dinner waiting. 
Mrs. Key received me with her old-time cordiality and 
after we had washed and rested a few minutes a very 
charming lady came in to welcome me and escort me 
to dinner. 

It was my little Lottie who sat on my knee when 
told not to be afraid of that Yankee, twenty-five years 
ago. She took my arm and led me to a chair and a 
plate, beside which she had placed a silver goblet 
with the name ''Lottie" engraved on it. She took 
it up and said, "This was my first birthday present; 
it was one of the lot that your men found in the cave 
and that you returned, and I want you to drink out 
of it tonight." 

She had married a year before. Her husband 
was a doctor in Florida, and she had come home on 
her first visit just two weeks before. 

I spent a number of days very delightfully with 
Mr. Key and his family. We drove each day here 
and .there over the beautiful country — fine i cotton 
land, among refined country people. 

The culture of cotton with free labor was being 
solved with less friction than they had feared. It had 
vexed both races alike, but after twenty-five years' 
experience the conviction was general that when 
fairly organized they could do better with free labor. 
As a rule the former slaves did not want to leave 
good masters, and the plan was for two or three to 
join in taking a lease on a ten or twenty acre cotton 



262 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

lot, the owner furnishing teams, tools and reasonable 
supplies during the working months and dividing the 
crop equally at the end of the year, the working party 
to pay the cost of supplies out of their half of the 
crop. 

The by-product of the cotton and the seed had in- 
creased the value of the crop far beyond what it was 
worth before the war, and a great responsibility had 
been taken from the planters. The general feeling was 
that they and the country were approaching a better 
condition of things that they ever expected. 

Mrs. Campbell sent out her invitations for Thurs- 
day afternoon. Here I had the pleasure of meeting 
a number of my former acquaintances, among whom 
was the handsome black-eyed widow who came on 
horseback to get through my lines long ago. She was 
as bright as ever, although a little more robust. She 
had married again and now was the wife of Colonel 
Collier, the well known editor of the Nashville Amer- 
ican, and was on a visit to her friends in Florence. 

Referring to her mother who had died some years 
before, she said, 

"Mother was an old-fashioned Presbyterian and be- 
lieved firmly in special Providence. She often gave 
an instance in which you figured — that once when we 
were living alone on the plantation, two rough look- 
ing strangers came to the house looking for something 
to eat, which we gave them. The}^ then demanded 
money. We told them we had none. They became 
very abusive, ransacked the house, opened the 



VISIT TO FLORENCE, ALABAMA. 263 

drawers, taking anything they wanted. While they 
were upstairs, two soldiers rode up and asked if this 
was where Mrs. Collier lived, saying they belonged 
to the 9th Ohio Cavalry and that Colonel Hamilton 
had sent them as guards to our house. The men 
upstairs heard them; they jumped from an upper 
window and broke for the woods in too big a hurry 
to take anything with them. Mother always believed 
that God put it into the mind of Colonel Hamilton to 
send those guards at that time." 

I met her older sister and her husband, Captain 
Simpson, who was a quartermaster in the regiment 
across the river when I visited the mother and sisters 
and they proposed a union supper at which we should 
meet and hold a conference with a view of closing the 
war. The captain was at this time a leading lawyer 
of the county and an elder in the Presbyterian church. 

Florence had long been the seat of a female 
seminary. But this had been closed during the war, 
after which it had been re-opened. One of the teach- 
ers was a guest at Mrs. Campbell's dinner. 

After the dinner she took a seat beside me and said 
she wanted to tell me how much she felt she was 
indebted to me. "I am, as you were told, from the 
North." "My home is in Troy, New York. 
After the war closed it was decided to re-open the 
seminary here. I saw an advertisement in one of our 
Northern papers for a superintendent to take charge 
of it. As I had some experience in that line and had 
a desire to try the South for a while, I answered the 



264 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

advertisement, which resulted in my employment with 
one assistant. 

"The school was opened. Girls fromi the town and 
vicinity came. As schools had been disorganized 
during the war I found them quite deficient in scholar- 
ship, but filled with a bitter hatred of the Yankees, 
and I think I would have given up the school in 
disgust had it not been for you and your Yankee 
regiment. For with all their bitterness it was the 
fashion tO' speak well of you. So I took heart and 
with a good deal of patience and forbearance I have 
succeeded in causing them to concede that there are 
'others' entitled to fair treatment, and I now have a 
good school and plenty of good friends here." 

The company spent the afternoon as a "Committee 
of the Whole" discussing the war and its results. A 
number of young people were there under the lead of 
Mrs. Campbell's young son, a very bright boy of twelve 
years, who insisted that I should tell some Yankee 
stories. I told him I would if he would tell some 
Johnnie stories. He said he would, and the contest 
was quite amusing. At its close he said with a laugh, 

"I have just been thinking how you and I could 
make lots of money, Colonel." 

"How?" said I. 

"Why by getting up a show and going around 
telling war stories." 

"That is a capital idea," said I. "You certainly 
are a born Yankee." 



CHAPTER 28. 

Recent Correspondence. 

(From Florence, Alabama, Times.) 

The following letter kindly shown us by Mrs. 
W. P. Campbell, will recall to the older citizens of 
Florence an interesting period of the war between the 
states, when the Federals occupied this territory. 

Colonel Hamilton is recollected as a humane com- 
mander, a true soldier, who never forgot that he was 
making war on soldiers only, and not on citizens ; and 
who won the respect and esteem of even his enemies 
by his high-minded, soldierly bearing. Twenty-five 
years later Colonel Hamilton visited Florence, when 
he was cordially entertained by those from whom he 
had received consideration in the trying times of war. 

The letter was dated at Columbus, Ohio, May 26, 
1913, and was addressed to the postmaster at Florence. 
It is as follows : 

"Dear Sir : — I write to make inquiry about some of the 
old citizens of Florence and vicinity. 

"In the spring of 1864, I, with the Ninth O. V. Cavalry, 
of which I was Colonel, was stationed about a month near 
Martin's Cotton Mills on Cypress Creek, within two miles 
of Florence with orders from General Sherman to guard the 
Tennessee River against the enemy who had captured part 

(265) 



266 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

of a scouting force of my regiment one night two weeks be- 
fore while encamped on the Jack Peters' plantation below 
town. 

"My orders were to prevent further raids in that locality 
and to exhaust the resources which had been furnishing sup- 
plies for General Forrest and his men. While here I made 
the acquaintance of the families of W. H. Key, Captain 
Coffee, Mrs. Collier, Governor Patton and others. On my 
second visit, 25 years afterwards, I had the pleasure of 
meeting a number of old friends and quite a number of new 
ones, among whom were the ex-Confederate Dr. J. C. Conner, 
who married Mr. Key's oldest daughter ; Captain Campbell, 
who married the daughter of Captain Coffee; and Captain 
Patton, son of Governor Patton. 

"Since the war I have spent a good deal of my active 
life in the South, and I am writing at the request of my old 
comrades, my 'recollections of a cavalryman during the Civil 
War. My command met the soldiers of the South more than 
sixty times under fire, and I can frankly say, with no disgrace 
on either side. But I have always felt that, after all, the 
greatest good I accomplished for our common country was 
in the bloodless campaign around Florence ini the spring of 
1864. 

"I write, therefore, to ask if you will kindly hand this 
letter to any of the last three gentlemen named who may be 
within reach, as I would prize a letter from any of them at 

t^^s time. uYouj-s very truly, 

"(Signed) W. D. Hamilton.'' 



I received in answ^er to my letter a charming note 
from Mrs. Campbell who was hostess at the dinner 
given me nearly twenty-five years ago, and my partner 
in the hat business fifty years ago; also a letter from 
the Captain in which he told me that Captain Patton 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 267 

and Dr. Conner were both dead, but that I still had 
friends in Florence, and cordially suggested another 
visit, stating with extreme Southern courtesy, the be- 
lief that if all the northern troops had been like the 
officers and men of the 9th O. V. Cavalry, the war 
would have closed sooner than it did, and in a 
way that would have prevented the existence of the 
''Carpet Bag" Government, which became a disgrace 
to the North and a humiliation to the South. 

During my visit to that beautiful region I met 
many returned confederate soldiers whom I found 
frank and cordial. Florence was developing as a 
manufacturing town. Partnerships between former 
antagonists had been formed. 

Owners of the large plantations were generally 
leasing their cotton land to their former slaves on 
terms which were satisfactory to both, the owners 
taking a general oversight of the work and supplying 
what was necessary during the growing of the crops 
on terms agreed upon, and all candid men admitted 
that the change was working better than they expected. 
In the preparation of these reminiscences, I opened 
correspondence as follows : 

I have received many letters from my old com- 
rades giving accounts of events, and their experiences 
during our service together. Many of these are too 
personal and would be out of place in book form, but 
to those who have written them I extend a comrade's 
thanks. 



268 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

Quite a number give accounts of the same 
occurrences, and it is interesting to notice how the 
stories vary in detail, given from different standpoints, 
although they generally agree in the main. I give 
extracts of such as may be of general interest. 

Letter from Captain Wm. Henderson, of Com- 
pany "D", 9th O. V. C, who enlisted from Wooster, 
Ohio, but who, like myself, was born in Scotland. His 
present home is at Miller's Ferry, Alabama, where 
he has lived ever since the war. This letter is dated 
January 20, 1914. 

"I am pleased to know that you are writing a history of 
the 9th O. V. C. It served most of the time as an inde- 
pendent command, detached from the infantry, and seldom 
attached to any other cavalry force. We served mostly in 
mountain regions in advance of the infantry, watched by 
'bushwhackers' and subject to attack from the enemy's cav- 
alry, and the strictest discipline was necessary. 

"You had a method of discipline peculiarly your own, I 
remember in the beginning, while you were taking the 2nd 
and 3rd Battalions through Kentucky, some men had broken 
into a house in Bardstown the first night, and took what 
they wanted, including a razor the leader found in a trunk 
he broke open. With this you had one-half of their heads 
shaved and the leader, an unassigned recruit, drummed out 
of the Regiment to the music of the 'Rogues March.' I 
mention this as it impressed upon the men the standard you 
set for the 9th O. V. C. 

"I am writing from memory. Since I began we found 
an old memorandum book that I had in the army, and I will 
copy something that I found in it, written in reference to 
yourself. I will copy it for your grandchildren." 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 269 

"March 13, 1864, 
''Camp Near Columbia, Tennessee. 

"Our Colonel Hamilton is a very excellent gentleman. 
He possesses all the qualifications of a good commander. A 
fine nature, intelligent, possessed of true courage, rather 
stern, courteous and kind, watching the interests of the men 
more like a father than an officer." 

"On Rousseau Raid. Arrived at Ashville, Alabama, 
July 13th. Fed and shod horses. Colonel Hamilton made a 
speech to the regiment on discipline, which was good and 
well received." 

"Janunry 28, 1863. Colonel Hamilton assembles his men 
and in an earnest and eloquent manner informs them of the 
intended campaign in the Carolinas. Shows them the difficul- 
ties to overcome, and the desperate character of the enemy 
we are likely to encounter in great numbers. Then to en- 
courage them he described in a happy manner their past 
achievements, making them feel proud that they belonged to 
the Army of the West, to this cavalry division and par- 
ticularly to the 9th O. V. Cavalry, which had never retreated 
from an enemy. He also instructed them never to surrender. 
Better die like men than be starved like dogs." 

The Captain proceeds: 

"On the day of the fight at Aiken, March 11th, I made 
this note in my memorandum book : 'War is horrible, but 
what a grand game. How electrified we feel while we charge 
the opposing ranks. The enemy seem as chaflf while we feel 
like a hurricane which nothing can withstand'." * * * 

"You ask about my affairs since the war. My plan from 
babyhood was to be a farmer. In the fall of 1865 I and some 
friends purchased 1,940 acres of cotton land in Alabama, 
eighty miles west of Selma. I studied cotton culture care- 
fully. It had been the practice under slave labor to abandon 
land, when worn out, as worthless. We found that with 



270 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

proper fertilizers this could be redeemed. I worked success- 
fully and now pay taxes on 600 head of cattle and 8,000 acres 
of land which I have bought and set the example of redeem- 
ing. I have raised 1,000 bales on 2,000 acres, this being con- 
sidered a good average crop." 

"Replying to your question about politics : I did not 
have time to take part in state politics, but it was urged that 
in many parts of the state bad men were organizing and that 
if the good men of the state did not take hold the country 
would be ruined. I had belonged to a Union Regiment that 
was popular in the northern part of the state, and I was 
elected a member of the legislature for three years. My 
votes and protests against every swindling bill that came up 
are on record, and when I reached home I felt happy that I 
did not have a dishonest dollar in my pocket. I was elected 
Judge of Probate and served six years. When I went into 
office the debt on the general fund of the county was $36,000. 
When my time was out there was $1,200 in the treasury and 
the taxes for that year had not been collected." 

"We have three sons and one daughter, all educated in 
the North. When the daughter was married, she received 
from the people of the county many valuable presents, but 
the thing that filled my eyes and warmed my heart was a 
present from the Daughters of the Confederacy." 

"Wm. Henderson." 

University Park, Denver, Colo., Jan. 6, 1914. 

General W. D. Hamilton, 

Columbus, Ohio. 

My Dear, Dear General and Life- Long Friend: 

How the days have rolled into years since first I grasped 
your hand and looked into your good face and cheerfully 
obeyed your commands. I was sixteen and, if I am correct, 
you were thirty. I can never forget and may I ever treasure 
the memory of your influence and words in forming my life 




Capt. Wm. Henderson, 
Co. "D." 




0)RP. Wm. R. KiNNEAR, Co. "E. 




Sergt. Thos. Corwix Iliff, €o. "A." 
Subsequently Rev. T. C. Iliff, D. D., of the M. E. Church. 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 27I 

during my soldier boy days — 1862-5. I rejoice that kind 

Providence has spared you to pass the eightieth mile-stone 

with mental faculties strong and body fairly well preserved. 

Now in my sixty-ninth year I scarcely experience ache or 

pain, and probably never did more effective service than the 

year 1913, traveling 44,000 miles without accident or missing 

an appointment. Tomorrow I leave for Idaho and Oregon 

and return in two weeks. I hope and purpose some day to 

stop long enough in Columbus, Ohio, to see you and talk over 

stirring events of our soldier life. 

Mrs. Iliff joins me heartily in the kindest regards and 

good wishes. . , . , 

Always smcerely yours, 

(Signed) Thomas Corwin Iliff. 

I think it not out of place in this connection in 
view of Dr. Ilifif's subsequent career to explain that 
after I had served a year as Captain of Co. G. in 
the 32nd. O. V. I. and while recruiting for the 9th. 
O. V. C. Tommie's father and mother brought him 
to camp and told me that he insisted on going to the 
war ; that he had volunteered once but they had taken 
him out as he was too young. As he still insisted upon 
going they brought him to me and his' mother told 
me he was a member of church, in which he took an 
active part. She wanted me to know this and asked 
me to take care of him as well as I could. 

It was perhaps six months afterwards when pass- 
ing his tent, I heard him swear, but I seemed not to 
hear him. Next day I passed his quartersi and in- 
vited him to take a walk. When we passed beyond 
hearing of the boys, I took him by the arm and said. 



2/2 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

'Tommie, I heard you yesterday." "I thought you 
did," he repHed. 

"I expect you think that I am going to scold you, 
but I am not. This is a hard and unnatural life for 
us all. I never swore an oath in my life, yet at times 
I am tempted to do it here. But I am trying the best 
I can to do as I was taught at home. You remember 
what we promised your mother, and I know it com- 
forts her to think of it. I have always thought that 
to swear was a sign of cowardice often used to fan 
a feeble spark of courage to the fighting point. It 
lowers a boy in the friendship of anyone worth know- 
ing and stands next to lying among the things to be 
avoided." 

Tommie was a brave boy and although among the 
youngest he closed his army life as Sergeant in his 
company. 

He now ranks as a Major General in the Methodist 

Church. 

His career in civil life and as a minister in the 
Methodist Church has been but the development 
of that energy acquired in the four years of rough 
schooling which antedated his college life. 

Dr. Iliff has devoted a life of energy and unusual 
ability in development of the great West, under the 
influence of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
especially in the territory of Utah, where he became 
the great leader in opposition to polygamy, as repre- 
sented by the Mormon Church. Through his good 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 273 

work polygamists were excluded from the hails of 
Congress. 

In recognition of his services in the church the 
honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred 
by his Alma Mater, The Ohio University. Hd has 
not forgotten his army life, but has taken an active 
part in Grand Army affairs. He has been Chaplain 
in Chief of the G. A. R. and Department Commander 
of the Department of Utah, and his lecture on the 
"Sunny Side of Army Life" has been considered one 
of the best on the American platform. 

LETTERS FROM MY COMRADES. 

General Land Office, 
Washington, D. C, Apr. 4, '14. 
Gen'l W. D. Hamilton : 

My Dear General : 

I learn that you are preparing a history of the 9th O. V. 
Cavalry. Such a publication would be greatly valued in 
reviving many almost forgotten scenes. 

My service in the 9th was in a subordinate capacity and 
I saw things in a limited circle which would scarcely interest 
a reader. Fifty years have dimmed our memories. Rut I 
recall your inspection of Company "F" at Camp Dennison. 
You asked, as we stood in line, for those who had never fired 
a gun to step to the front ; also those who had never shot a 
squirrel or other game. Those who had never owned a gun 
or rode a horse, all these in turn were called to show them- 
selves. I was amazed at the answers given ; so many never 
fired a gun, so few had ever killed any game and so many 
were strangers to a horse, and their unmilitary appearance 
gave me a fear for the future. 
18 



274 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

If you had apprehensions for the work in hand you did 
not show it, but praised their awkward drill and attempts to 
march. You went to work faithfully with both men and 
ofiEiceTS. They were eager and quick to learn and in a few 
months you had a command equal to the best. 

I know of what I speak, for as a sergeant I had been 
sent with a squad to patrol the Tennessee River to the 
Mussel Shoals. One evening when I saw the outlines of 
some mounted men approaching us through the timber, I 
gave the command "Left front into line" to my men, who 
responded with the care and promptness of veterans. In call- 
ing "Halt; who comes there?" I found it was our Colonel 
with Company "L," who had given us this chance to make the 
test whether we were soldiers worthy of the Buckeye State. 
And you gave me a personal compliment which I have never 
forgotten. But I shared it with the boys who drank with me 
from the same canteen. 

Some time ago I heard of your sickness, but I hope you 
have recovered and I sincerely hope that you may be spared 
to your family and friends and to the men who bear you that 
inexpressible love born in the stress of war. 

Your comrade, 

F. A. Weaver. 

Comrade Daniel S. Moses of Company "K", now 
of Fremont, Ohio, gives an interesting account of the 
capture of eight of our regiment v^hile out foraging 
on the Rousseau Raid, describing their treatment in 
the different prisons in which he and they were incar- 
cerated, most of them dying, one at a time. He says 
that on the day of our national election, an arrange- 
ment was made in the Andersonville prison to take a 
vote of the prisoners on the question of peace or war. 
Two boxes were furnished ; beans were the tickets — 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 275 

the white ones for McClellan, the black ones for 
Lincoln. Those of the men who could stand were 
drawn up in line to vote. This resulted in 1050 for 
McClellan and 3014 for Lincoln. This was disappoint- 
ment to the officers of Andersonville prison, who 
thought the starving men would do anything that might 
stop the war and let them go home. 

Comrade Edward Butts, company "H", tells the 
story of the rebel scout who approached our picket 
post at Decatur and got shot by the mounted vidette. 
private Clampett. Sergeant Howe was in charge of 
the post and sent the wounded man into camp. I have 
already given this story. He also relates the following : 

"While the regiment was encamped at Nashville, near 
Mt. Olivet Cemetery, some of the boys chalked their names 
and regiment on the marble tombstones. This lead the colo- 
nel to make a speech on the subject of deportment. He said 
in substance: 'I infer from seeing your names in the grave- 
yard that some of you are thinking about death. That is 
right, but do not be in a hurry; we have work to do before 
our names are placed on tombstones — very important work. 
I would urge you to guard your health and your deportment; 
to confine yourselves at all times strictly to duty and to go 
nowhere nor do anything that you would hesitate to tell your 
mother.' The colonel named a sergeant to whom all the boys 
who had defaced the stones should report, and he would 
march them to the cemetery and see that every boy removed 
his name. I have thought of this speech many times since 
then."- 

F. M. Overmyer, Company "K" (Captain Albin 
Coe) writes: 



276 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

"While we were at Decatur, in May, 1864, a detail from 
our regiment, with the 10th Iowa Infantry and a part of an 
Ohio Battery, was sent out on a scout. I was detailed as 
orderly to the colonel commanding. We reached the rebel 
pickets in a clump of bushes. I pointed them out to the 
colonel, and we charged. They fired a volley and fled to give 
the alarm. I was sent with an order to hurry up the artillery. 
When I got back the fight was on, and I came so near getting 
killed by a shot from the enemy's artillery that I gasped for 
breath. Our captain turned his artillery on them with deadly 
effect, and we raised a yell as they lit out. 

"In August, 1864, when in front of Atlanta, Company 
'K' was sent out for picket duty under our beloved Captain 
Albin Coe. The enemy were everywhere, and while on duty 
on a picket post we had to keep hid. About 12 o'clock I heard 
a noise, and although it was very dark I detected a man who, 
when he saw me, prepared to strike, but I downed him with a 
punch from my gun. He claimed that he was not a soldier 
and pointed to a house nearby, saying he had just been up 
there to see his girl." 

Comrade Overmyer has sent me quite an inter- 
esting list of his army experiences, a number of which 
are told by other comrades, and I wish I could include 
more. 

John Brandenburg of Company "L", gives quite 
an account of the number of boys that were killed or 
captured in our raids and skirmishes with foraging 
parties. Also an account of the 300 men and disabled 
horses which on the fourth day of the Rousseau Raid 
were sent back under Captain Daniels from the Coosa 
river. He tells how on their return they crossed the 
Tennessee river, half a mile wide, in two long canoes 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 277 

while leading their horses swimming on each side of 
the boats. After working all night, they arrived on 
the other side at 7 A. M., next morning, without an 

accident. 

George F. Hill, Company "F", tells of the fight 
at Center Star, Ala., as he saw it. 

"I was out with a scouting party under Sergeant C. M. 
Cunningham and saw a party of the enemy coming down the 
hill towards the river ahead of us. We saw a horseman 
come galloping after them. We all fired, but he kept rushing 
on. Sergeant Cunningham fired again and shot his horse. 
The man seemed to turn a complete somersault but he 
alighted on his feet and started to run. He made a short cut 
for the river, but it was scarcely light and he jumped into a 
mud hole up to his hips. As we rode up he drew two 
revolvers and fired, but hit no one. Sergeant Ames was 
ahead and ordered him to surrender. He unbuckled his belt 
and handed his revolvers to Ames, saying, 'I will give my 
arms to the man I surrender to.' Sergeants Ames and Cun- 
ningham hauled him out of the mud as a prisoner. 

"He proved to be a captain in the rebel battalion of 250 
cavalry that we were after. We soon heard firing below, and 
Sergeant Cunningham put spurs to his horse saying, 'Come 
on, boys,' and down the old canal bed we went to where we 
saw Colonel Hamilton on his big black horse in the midst of 
the fight, directing the men with a coolness he always dis- 
played in a fight. The enemy soon took to an island in the 
river and was out of our reach. The battalion commanded 
by Lieutenant Colonel Cook failed to get there until too late 
to give any assistance or we would have captured the entire 
command." 

Mr. E. J. Hammer, Bradentown, Florida, May 
ist, 1914, writes: 



278 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

"I have been h^re since last fall, doing some editorial 
work on the Bradentown Herald. I like both the work and 
the town. There are many old Union soldiers around here, 
while the old Johnnies are as friendly as though we never 
fought against them. The bitterness of defeat seems to have 
passed. 

"You ask for a story for your book. I enclose some- 
thing which you may use or throw in the waste basket, as you 
think best. 

"I remember, while at Decatur, Alabama, one morning 
about sunrise the alarm gun at the battery gave the pre- 
arranged signal of an attack. In a minute the first Sergeant 
Oviatt of our Company 'F' was dragging the boys out of bed, 
some of them by the heels. In about five minutes we were 
ready. Colonel Hamilton was already mounted, and we were 
ordered forward without waiting for the laggards. As we 
passed the infantry pickets' line we found the Johnnies in the 
woods and to my boyish eyes it seemed there must be ten 
thousand of them. 

"Without waiting to count the enemy, the colonel or- 
dered a charge, and we charged across the field over logs and 
fences, Colonel Hamilton in advance. Where he went we 
were always sure to find such of his men as could keep pace 
with his bay horse. 

"The Johnnies didn't like our looks and after firing fell 
back across a field, behind a fence in the woods, and greeted 
us with a volley which sounded like a swarm of bees. I was 
on the left of our line. A clump of trees was about midway 
between us and the rebel line. We sat on our horses, blazing 
away at the rebels, when something grazed my left ear and 
struck a sapling a few feet behind me. I ducked, of course, 
and, seeing a curl of smoke rising from a clump of bushes, 
fired into it with some more of the boys. 

"I got scared — badly; tried to shelter myself behind the 
sapling; then got behind George Sherman, and tried to keep 
up my end of the shooting. But when Sherman wanted to 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 279 

know what the h — 1 I was doing, 1 found 1 was firing over his 
head. His angry exclamation brought me to my senses and 1 
got back to my place. But I don't think there ever was a 
worse scared boy than I was. 

"The colonel ordered another charge and away we went 
across that field. As we passed that clump of bushes one of 
the boys called out, 'There he is. We got him,' and there lay 
the Johnnie that so nearly got me. We chased that bunch of 
rebels several miles through the woods, getting a number of 
prisoners, and finished the job by eating their breakfast 
which was cooking on their camp fires when we got there." 

Philip Hans writes : 

"I was with the dismounted men and convalescents, 
about 125, just before the march to the sea, who were sent 
back from the front under Major Irvine, Lieutenants Fan- 
ning and Cochran, of our regiment. We were sent to Nash- 
ville to join the forces under General Thomas, who was 
opposing the advance of General Hood. During the battle' at 
Franklin our detachment of about one hundred men, under 
command of Major Irvine, after some exchange of shots with 
the enemy, fell back to the picket line behind a fence from 
which we kept up a fire for about half an hour. We were 
then ordered to fall back slowly, and reached the infantry 
line, but were soon ordered back to our former position. We 
were then taken to support a battery, which soon stopped 
firing as our infantry had taken position in front of it. Next 
morning we were ordered to fall back on Nashville, where we 
remained in support of a battery. After the battle we left 
Nashville to join our regiment under General Sherman, by 
way of New York and the sea, and were reunited in the 
march through the Carolinas, under General Kilpatrick." 

Wilson C. Starkey, of Diller, Nebraska, writes : 

"Being confined in the hospital at Nashville, I was pre- 
vented from joining you in Sherman's march to the sea, but 
was able to join the detachment of our regiment in the battles 



28o RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

against Hood at Franklin and Nashville. The detachment 
under Major Irvine was then ordered to proceed by way of 
New York and the sea to join you at Savannah, arriving just 
in time to join a brigade of dismounted men and foot it 
through the Carolinas. I took part with our dismounted men, 
marching with the cavalry. We had a hard time at Aiken 
and again at Fayetteville, where Hampton's men in blue over- 
coats surrounded Kilpatrick's headquarters early in the morn- 
ing while he was sleeping ; but he escaped half dressed. 

"Our dismounted men, armed with Springfield rifles and 
bayonets, were encamped behind a swamp nearby. Lieutenant 
Colonel Stough, in command, ordered us to double quick, and 
after firing one volley we charged with the bayonet, with 
heavy loss to the enemy and retook Kilpatrick's camp, en- 
abling him to complete his toilet. But we had to let go three 
hundred prisoners which we had been guarding, and they got 
away during the fight. We then plodded on twenty miles to 
Goldsborough. 

"My father had enlisted in the 80th Ohio, which was at 
Goldsborough. I went to your tent and asked if you would 
give me a pass to go and see my father, and you did. When 
I returned to my tent the orderly sergeant told me I was 
detailed with two other comrades to guard cattle that we had 
gathered on our march, some of which were butchered daily 
for the regiment. 

"We argued the question of authority of a pass from the 
colonel or a detail from the captain. This was settled by 
comrade Robert Deams, who volunteered to take my place 
and I to take his place when called for duty. Our march was 
a forced one, and the boys with the cattle lost ground, were 
captured and murdered. Not one of the comrades— Louis 
Langbough, George Miller and Robert Deams— has ever been 
heard of since. That pass from you saved my life. 
"I remain, yours truly, 

"Wilson C. Starkey, 
"Private Co. C, Qth O. V. C" 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 28I 

Ferndale Ranch, P. O. Baggs, Wyoming, 

April 1(), 1914. 
Dear Colonel : 

I see by the National Tribune that you are writing a his- 
tory of the dear old 9th Ohio Cavalry and calling for stories 
from the boys, and I send the following short one : 

I belonged to Co. B, 1st Battalion. On our march from 
Pulaski to Knoxville, Tenn., we captured a hive of bees, being 
fond of honey. A blanket was procured and tied carefully 
around the hive, which was lifted up to one of the boys, and 
we continued the march with the taste of honey in our 
mouths. 

Soon the bees found a way out and joined actively in the 
march, making it as hot as ever the Johnnies did ; the boy 
threw down the hive, for an aeroplane corps of the enemy 
opened fire in our faces, aiming at the eyes. We made a gal- 
loping retreat with swollen faces, and when we came blinking 
into camp we could scarcely see to put up our tents, and we 
all agreed that honey was "no good." Andrew Davis. 

^ „ TT Osage. Kansas. 

Dear Colonel Hamilton : 

On one occasion, I. with a scouting party, was sent out 
under Major Irvine. Sergeant Wicken, Albert Joy. W. F. 
McLaughlin and myself were sent in advance, and when near 
the enemy's camp we found the pickets asleep and captured 
them all. When our battalion came up we took the enemy by 
surprise and captured seven more. 

On another occasion, while scouting near Goldsboro, 
N. C, for provisions, our party came to a house and found 
the mother and daughter frightened and crying, as everything 
in the house had already been taken, and they thought they 
would have to starve; so we boys divided with them all we 
had, very much to their surprise and thankfulness, 

Samuel Michael. 



282 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

I have ventured to add the following letter 
recently received from Mr. L. A. Cormley, a prominent 
citizen of Upper Sandusky, Ohio : 

My Dear Colonel: 

I have been very much interested since learning that you 
were writing a history of the 9th O. V. C. I was a member 
of Company "F" of that regiment and am proud of the record 
it made. And for the past fifty years I have been thankful 
that my soldier life was spent in it. 

I enclose a statement I made at a reunion of our old 
company at Upper Sandusky two years ago, which I have 
reason to believe expresses the universal sentiment of your 
men ; and I ask that you lay aside any personal delicacy you 
might have in its publication, and for the influence it may 
have upon the lives of our descendants and upon our military 
service, I earnestly request that you include it in the record. 

"I do not think there was a regiment in the entire army 
that was under better discipHne with less show of it than the 
9th Ohio Cavalry. It was the pleasure of both officers and 
men to be governed by the instructions of Colonel Hamilton, 
and not from fear of punishment, but from the respect and 
love they bore their commander. As a soldier and a man he 
exemplified the life he taught us to follow, and I do not 
believe there is a comrade of the regiment living today but is 
a better man because he served with Colonel Hamilton." 

I have ventured, at the suggestion of some of my 
friends, to close this story of the war by including in 
a different form, a reference to some of its results and 
the valuable lessons it has brought to our reunited 
country, as given in two memorial addresses ; the one 
for the Union, the other for the Confederate dead. 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 283 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 

Delivered May 30, 1886, Before the Grand Army Post of 

Athens, Ohio, the Faculty and Students of the 

Ohio University and Citizens of Athens. 

In Memory of the Union Dead. 

"With uplifted hand I do solemnly swear that I will bear 
true allegiance to the United States of America, that I will 
support and defend its constitution, and its laws. That I will 
obey the orders of the President and the officers appointed 
over me during my term of enlistment. So help me. God." 

My comrades — God bless you — do you remember that 
oath? We all took it. It was a deed of trust upon our 
lives, given to our government, to be returned or foreclosed 
at its pleasure. Ours was returned to us, but the conveyance 
was foreclosed upon our comrades whose memories we meet 
to honor today. 

It is right and proper, my fellow-citizens, on occasions 
like this that we should consider for a few moments the 
causes which made our offer and their sacrifice necessary. 

At the close of the war which brought them independ- 
ence, a convention of the thirteen colonies was called in 
which all local concessions required to effect a union were 
agreed to. except the question of slavery, which had existed 
in the Southern States from their be-ginning. And, after a 
heated discussion and the powerful pressure of the desire to 
form a union, the convention agreed upon a compromise by 
ignoring it; and since then, for nearly a century, the finest 
culture, the highest civilization and the purest Christianity 
in modern life has been yoked to the veriest barbarism of the 
dark ages. The brightness of the one made the darkness of 
the other more discernible. 

The union was unnatural — the conflict inevitable. The 
thrift of honorable labor in the North became pitted against 
the arrogance which owned the wasteful slave labor of the 



284 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

South. The one with an active growing population created 
wealth and opened new states in the north and west. The 
other with a population increasing, not so much in white intel- 
ligence as in black ignorance, was wasting the soil by aban- 
doning their worn-out cotton fields rather than to acquire a 
knowledge of how to improve them. 

It was therefore found necessary, in order to maintain 
the balance of power in Washington and to find fresh soil for 
their cotton growers, to bring on a war with a sister republic 
by which a vast expanse of virgin territory was taken from 
the semi-barbarism of Mexico and given to the slavery of the 
United States. 

But the South fell behind in the power of a voting popu- 
lation and in the memorable election of 1860 the slave power 
was defeated. But they had control of the government at 
Washington and one of their unsuspecting tools was president. 
They held the reins of government until the 4th of March, 
1861, while maturing their plans. They quietly distributed the 
arms of the nation among the arsenals of the South. Our 
little army was ordered to distant outposts to bring on a war 
with the Indians. They had been careful to keep their state 
quota of students full at West Point. Our ships of war were 
sent on useless voyages to foreign seas. They threw down 
the gauntlet of war apd declared that they would not be gov- 
erned by the will of a majority unless they were that majority. 
They held the States Rights sponge filled with political chlo- 
roform to the nose of the President, while treason ripened in 
their southern soil and state after state passed ordinances of 
secession. He freely said they had no right to go but since 
they had gone secession was an "established fact" and he 
knew of no power to bring them back. 

Oh, my countrymen ! In that sad hour the sun of our 
glory was darkened and the veil was rent in the temple of 
liberty. Their Catilines were proclaiming treason in our fed- 
eral halls, cheered by hosts of co-conspirators. 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 285 

Oh, saddest day in all the history of governments. 
What ! a nation — our nation — our dear beloved republic — torn 
asunder and robbed in full view of delighted European mon- 
archies. And Freedom wept, crying, "Is there none to save?" 

From the fresh, green prairies of Illinois an honest man, 
elected by an honest majority of his fellow-citizens, stood on 
the steps of the nation's capitol and took a solemn oath to 
support the constitution and maintain the integrity of the 
states. 

The imbecile wail of his predecessor was sounding from 
the lakes to the gulf — "Gone, but no power to bring them 
back." While from the mouths of a battery of rebel artillery, 
trained on Fort Sumter, seventy-five thousand men of the 
North sprang into line in a day and took up the gauntlet, say- 
ing, "We will see about that." And the war was on. 

Thus we were brought to the opening of one of the 
most v^^onderful tragedies in history; great in the magnitude 
of issues involved; great in the number and character of the 
men engaged ; great in the rapidity with which loyal citizens 
came from workshops and farms to be schooled in' the art of 
war amidst the smoke of battle, under the very guns of the 
enemy; and greater still, in the tracings we can see of the 
finger of God guiding it all. 

In all this, history furnishes no parallel; the great civil 
war in England was waged for sixteen years, draining the 
blood of her noblest families to determine the absorbing 
question whether the occupant of the throne should wear the 
red or the white rose. Ours was for national existence. 
It was not to disturb slavery in the Southern States. Under 
the constitution we had no right to do that, and the recruiting 
officer who would have avowed that could not have raised 
a company. The masses in the North were not prepared for 
the abolition of slavery. If it were wrong the South was 
responsible. They said, "We are not our brother's keeper." 
They did not recognize the brotherhood of man set forth in 
the invocation in that prayer universal given to all races of 



286 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

men — ''Our Father — which art in Heaven." It was not given 
to nations to inherit immortality, nor did Heaven provide a 
divine sacrifice for the sins of a commonwealth. Yet nations, 
as well as men, must bow to that divine law, "Without the 
shedding of blood there is no remission of sins." 

Lincoln became immortal when he penned the proclama- 
tion of freedom, but that proclamation had first to be written 
by the points of a hundred thousand bayonets dripping with 
our dearest blood. Had we been successful in the beginning 
and gained the battle of Bull Run, we might have crushed the 
rebellion then, but God's purpose would not have been accom- 
plished. The first two years were required to prepare us, not 
only for the war but for the results of the war. 

Our armies were composed for the most part of brave 
men but they were undisciplined. Our officers were intelligent 
but inexperienced. Repeatedly defeated in the east and oper- 
ating without] system in the west, we were becoming discour- 
aged. Our friends were beginning to fear for us, while our 
detractors resolved that the war was a failure, and began plot- 
ting treason in the North against us. Foreign nations whose 
commerce was interrupted became impatient and proposed to 
recognize the Confederacy. "Man's extremity became God's 
opportunity." When we were prepared to have the rebellion 
crushed upon the terms of the Almighty, He brought forward 
the man. We saw him coming from Belmont, with dyed gar- 
ments from Shiloh. His path was by the way of Donelson 
and Vicksburg and his footsteps shook a continent. He 
reached our right flank at Chattanooga and stepped to our 
front in the Wilderness. The days of our wavering were 
past. With a sublime faith in God, in the justice of his cause, 
and in himself, he threw his veteran legions on the battle 
front and grimly proclaimed amidst the thunder of his artil- 
lery, "I will fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." 
That blast upon his bugle horn was worth a thousand men. 
Drawn by the attraction of his genius kindred spirits came to 
his aid. 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 287 

Thomas, with the invincible will of a Wellington, grap- 
pled with the enemy and overthrew him on the bloody fields 
of Franklin and Nashville. Sheridan, with the irresistible 
dash of a Charlemagne, swept the valley of the Shenandoah, 
while Sherman rivaled Xenophon in his grand march to the 
sea, and gave to history a grander Anabasis. 

The roll of the drum and the clash of the saber were 
hushed on the fields of Virginia and the two great leaders 
of the opposing armies met beneath that famous apple tree; 
a sword and a pen lay on the table between them, for their 
work was done. And the flag that floated in majesty over 
them— thank God — was the Stars and Stripes. 

The war was over but our nation was torn and bleeding ; 
cities and villages of the South sacked and lying in ashes. 
Blackened belts leading to battle fields marked the pathway of 
armies. Flocks of expectant buzzards were floating slowly on 
the poisoned air, or half asleep, were perched on deadened 
trees — waiting ; half of the country exhausted and prostrate : the 
channels of peaceful industry broken and destroyed. Twelve 
hundred thousand of the young men of the nation under arms, 
drilled in the art of war, but almost strangers to the arts of 
peace. The timid said, when these lawless men were turned 
loose upon an unprotected county, its ruin would be complete. 
I have stood on deck, in mid-ocean, and watched the 
angry billows when lashed into fury by a storm. I have stood 
upon the trembling shore when the storm had spent its fury, 
and watched the surging waves come hissing landward, and I 
thought that every living thing would be submerged. But 
they came and broke away upon the reclining sand, and the 
air was purified and th^ grass made green by the fresh vigor 
of the dissolving spray. Even so were these great armies dis- 
solved, and the communities gained new life and energy as the 
soldier became absorbed into the better citizen through the 
gentle influences of loving homes. 

Our ranks were not filled, like most of the armies of 
Europe, with thriftless adventurers who enter the service to 



288 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

hedge against the bitter dividends of a profigate youth, whose 
bravery is often the result of the low estimate they place upon 
a disappointed life. 

A southern paper, describing the bloody repulse of the 
Union army at Fredericksburg, spoke of the gallant charge of 
a Wisconsin regiment whose color-sergeant fell mortally 
wounded on the front of his line, close to their breast-works. 
When his command was driven back he raised upon his elbow, 
but could not follow. Taking something from his breast, he 
held it, looking while his life-blood oozed away. When buria' 
squads went out to gather up the dead, they found a great. 
strong man, with bronzed cheek and bearded face. In one 
hand he still grasped the colors of <his regiment ; in the other, 
a little letter, on which his eyes were fixed with tenderest 
gaze, for on that sheet was written in a childish hand : 

"I love you, papa." 

This was the kind of blood shed on our battle-fields, that 
made the war so costly. In all nations, "the bravest are the 
tenderest," and the poet sings : 

''Go watch the foremost ranks in danger's wild career, 
Be sure the hand most daring there, 
Has wiped away a tear." 

Never were such vast armies on both sides bound by so 
many loving and refined ties at home. Scarce a bullet struck 
a soldier but broke a woman's heart. I look upon the sweet 
faces before me now, all radiant with beauty and lovely as 
the flowers they bear. Visions of a quarter of a century rise 
before me. I see once more the bright, sweet faces which 
smiled so proudly on us then, making us feel we had a land 
worth fighting for. And I say it now, in loyal faithfulness to 
the dear girls who brought us flowers then, that their forms 
were just as beautiful, their faces just as lovely, their eyes 
just as bright and their hearts just as warm as the fair ones 
whose presence cheers us today. 

As a nation we entered the war without supplies, and 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 289 

with neither money nor credit. Necessity taugiht us self-help. 
We placed a tariff upon such articles as we could produce at 
home. This encouraged manufacturing — foreign capital and 
labor came to our assistance. Our own capitalists joined in 
developing our own resources. Our towns became busy work- 
shops, and our lands were opened to furnish supplies. The 
shoddy clothing bought in England and France for our first 
soldiers gave way to substantial goods made from our own 
material in our own factories and paid for with our own 
greenbacks. The old Austrian muskets which we used for two 
years — to get whipped with — were changed for improved 
weapons of our own invention made from the best material 
from the factories of New England. The lead we used came 
from our own mines, the powder from our own laboratories. 
We created a navy of iron-clads and monitors upon new prin- 
ciples which revolutionized the navies of the world. The 
churches and loyal women gave us the Sanitary Commission, 
bringing such food and clothing as the sick and wounded 
needed, and ministering io their wants with a tender devotion 
such as none but woman knows. This came as a blessing to 
the soldier then, and in the good fellowship it produced 
among the churches has remained a blessing ever since. Thus 
Victory leading gentle Peace came to us at last by the light 
of workshops and forges, where weary men sweat ; guided by 
the hum of sewing machines, where patient women toiled ; 
starting from the altars of the churches, where devoted moth- 
ers prayed. A carpet of grass now covers the rifle pits which 
marked our battle line. And a mantle of charity is being 
woven over the bitterness of the past. 

The recent ovation to the fallen southern chieftain was 
given as a farewell to the principle they fought for. In its 
place there remains only a sentiment of the heart, fitly repre- 
sented in their own minds, by that frail old man — the last of 
his race — whom they wished to look upon once more and 
show to their children as the hero of the future novelis-t who 

19 



290 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

will weave golden threads of romance into tales of the strug- 
gle of a brave people for a lost cause. And I would scarcely 
ohide them for showing that strange faithfulness of the 
human heart which prompted them to cling to the idol which 
betrayed and ruined them. Some of their orators use lan- 
guage which their calmer moments would condemn, but they 
are Americans, and I would rather have them err on the side 
of arrogance than exhibit a cringing weakness. We learned 
to know them as a brave and generous people, whose faults 
were chiefly the outgrowth of the vicious institution they 
fought to perpetuate. They are now thanking God, with us, 
that the nation is free and reunited. My comrades, we were 
guided in a way we knew not, to become the ministers of God, 
in unfolding his designs to the nations, and those who sleep, 
his priests, inasmuch as they gave their lives for human lib- 
erty and their country's redemption. We are not blind to the 
faults which make us unworthy of this exaltation. We do 
not forget the moral wounds received from an enemy w'hose 
darts were more to be dreaded than the bullets of an open 
foe, for which our government — at least — with all its grateful 
liberality, can make no provision. But partial evil must yield 
to universal good, and when the mellow light of the future 
shall cast a halo of romance upon the armies of the Union, 
our children's children, with partial judgment, it may be, will 
give us more credit than we deserve, but it will inspire within 
their hearts an honest pride of ancestry and teach them a 
proper self-respect which we hope will make them ever ready 
to uphold their own and their country's honor. 

My countrymen, the past is secure with all its stirring 
memories. But w'hat of the future? We who once did some- 
thing to save the republic may be pardoned for our anxiety 
when we see signals of danger. 

The unnatural impetus which our war gave to foreign 
immigration has continued. From thirty millions we have 
reached sixty millions of people. The demand for labor has 
been more than supplied. We are subjected to an influx of 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 29I 

population coming faster than we can absorb and Americanize. 
The channels of distribution have become clogged, hordes 
of beings, strangers to our language and customs, are crowd- 
ing our great cities, and remain today as a foreign and undi- 
gested substance in the stomach of the nation. We k'vied a 
tax upon foreign imports to protect our native industries. I 
submit, my fellow-citizens, whether it would not be wise to 
place a tariff upon foreign immigration, to protect our native 
labor. A nation's first duty is to its own citizens. A proper 
per capita tax levied upon every immigrant over ten years of 
age would go far to protect us against a very dangerous class, 
while it would exclude but few who would be of any value to 
us. New York today is politically a foreign city, controlled by 
foreign elements whose leaders divide their time between rob- 
bing the government they live in and plotting mischief against 
the countries they came from. Our laws protect us against 
the importation of infectious diseases, but we have no quaran- 
tine against pauperism and moral leprosy. Ocean steamers 
have been receiving subsidies from foreign corporations by 
which their useless and criminal classes have been shipped to 
our shores like cattle, and distributed among our great cities 
at five and six dollars a head. Here is the origin of our labor 
troubles today. They come from under an oppression which 
has squeezed the higher aspirations of manhood out of them 
and left a residuum of sullen defiance to all wholesome 
restraint. Strangers to any kindness ever shown them, they 
come filled with a spirit of communism and atheism, and look 
upon capital, law and labor with equal disgust. Their fanati- 
cism has become epidemic, infecting the whole system of 
American labor, until capital has been driven from the chan- 
nels of. trade to seek safety in the vaults of the banks and the 
bonds of government. 

But this evil bears a more poisonous fruit which ripens 
at our elections. By our too liberal franchise t'hey are given 
the right to vote before they have a care except to see how 
much they can get for their votes. In this way our whole sys- 



292 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

tern has been brought into such contempt that within the past 
year in our own state desperate men have attempted to rape 
the ballot-box — smother the voice of the majority, check the 
legislation of the state and defy the people's will. Self- 
preservation is the first law of nations. In all nations the 
man who destroys or endangers the life of the sovereign is 
deemed worthy of death. Who is our sovereign? In whom 
rests the supreme power of this republic? The blood of those 
we meet to honor today was shed to determine that. When 
we laid down our arms, my comrades, we thought that ques- 
tion settled. On behalf of the veterans living today, and in 
the names of the fallen ones whose graves will be fragrant 
with flowers tonight. I ask, what should be done with the 
man or men who would dare thus to over-ride the will of the 
majority? My surprise that they can be found is exceeded by 
my amazement that they go unpunished. Is there not danger 
that a nation may become too refined to punish crime? The 
men who tamper with the ballot-box are not behind Jeff Davis 
in treason. He defied the majority — they changed it. He 
openly stabbed; they secretly poisoned our sovereign. His 
power to harm us is gone, but they are at large with the 
poison still within their reach. My countrymen, let us not be 
deceived. The future assassin of our republic will not her- 
ald his approach by artillery in the harbor of Charleston. The 
old guard will soon be gone. Each year transfers thousands 
from the march to the camping ground. Within the past year 
a platoon of thirteen from our own camp-fire have fallen by 
the way. We will soon turn over our colors to these younger 
men. of another generation, and we pray you to remember 
that between right and wrong there is an eternal conflict ; that 
the picket posts of the nation can never be withdrawn nor 
neglected. Preserve the flag unsullied that we have loved and 
tried to make the embodiment of all that is good in govern- 
ment. You are proud of it. You admire its beautiful design. 
To you it is tlie emblem of your nationality. To us it is more 
than that. We look upon its starry field and remember the 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. ^93 

long, weary nights we marched or lay unsheltered in the 
swamps of Georgia, and stood on picket posts on the lonely 
mountains of Virginia, when we listened at midnight to the 
wild scream of the catamount in the jungles, and watched the 
morning star at it rose over the camp of the enemy and 
seemed to our strained and weary eyes to vibrate among the 
branches of the distant trees, and we could scarcely tell 
whether it was one of the friendly stars of heaven or a signal 
from the magazines of hell. And those stripes with their crim- 
son hue, in them we see the stains of our brothers' blood and 
some of us, our own. And those bands of white, how pure 
they look. Why not? They were washed by our mother's tears. 
Glorious emblem of liberty. I see it in memory borne by our 
blue battalions marching to the sea : I hear once more the joy- 
ful shout of the captive escaped from frightened prison guards 
as, coming to meet us, they hail it in the distance. I listen 
again to the hallelujahs of a race no longer slaves as they wel- 
come it, the herald of coming freedom. And long as it floats 
over mountains and shipmasts may our loyal descendants bring 
flowers on this day to commemorate its costly coloring. 

On occasions like this there is a holiness in flowers. 
They come to us as angels from the realm of nature to give 
expression to our tenderest sympathies. They are the mute 
companions of our purest thoughts; their petals open to the 
breath of sighs and drink in nourishment from our falling 
tears. They are the stars which shine beneath us and by their 
fragrance give us thoughts of heaven, inspiring in our waver- 
ing breasts by their perennial bloom, faith in a second life, a 
hope of immortality. 

"We bring fresh flowers to soothe the captive's cell ; 
We clothe in flowers the altars where we pray, 

We deck the bride beneath the marriage bell, 
And strew the graves where rest our de-arest clay." 

Then 
"Let us gather a wreath from the garden bowers, 

And cover our comrades' graves with flowers." 



294 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

ADDRESS GIVEN JUNE 8, 1899, AT MEMORIAL 
SERVICES AT CAMP CHASE, OHIO. 

For the Confederate Dead. 

My Friends : It is easy to hate our enemies. It is natu- 
ral to retain a spirit of enmity against those who have in- 
jured us. 

It is the mission of Christianity to give us lessons of for- 
giveness ; and the Son of God came from heaven to teach us 
not only to forgive our enemies but to love them. 

In this, there is an inference that we ourselves may have 
given cause to make enemies, and that there is something good 
and lovable even in those who differ from us. 

It is not our province to discuss the cause of our civil 
war. It is enough for us to know that these men buried here 
were innocent. It cannot be traced to the men who took the 
field on either side. Its origin was embodied in the constitu- 
tion and grew out of the unfortunate existence of slavery 
when it was formed, and came down to us through nearly a 
century of bitter legislative contention and was finally dis- 
posed of in that bloody court of which we and they formed 
a part. 

During all this time the social relations between the sec- 
tions became less and less cordial and the business intercourse 
more and more strained. 

We cultivated the habit of belittling all that was good and 
magnified all that was bad in each other, so that when the con- 
test came it was a struggle between the so-called mechanics 
and small-fisted farmers of the North and the domineering 
slave drivers of the South. 

The war brought destruction and left untold sorrow, but 
it cleared away the obstacles to a better knowledge of each 
other. 

Our former impressions were entirely upset by the won- 
derful courage and nobleness of character displayed on both 
sides. 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 295 

Never were armies composed of men more earnest in 
their efforts, intensified if possible during the last two years 
as the forces of the South were driven back to become the de- 
fenders of their homes against the increasing strength of a 
powerful invading army. 

It is little wonder that the women of the South whose 
homes were ruined, and the women of the North whose sons 
lie scattered in unknown graves should retain a feeling of 
bitterness. Heart wounds were given which saddened the 
life of a generation, and have magnified the task of conciliation 
which the best men and women on both sides have under- 
taken and which these floral tributes to the Confederate dead 
today are designed to promote. 

On occasions like this we feel there is a holiness in flow- 
ers. They are the mute companions of our purest thoughts 
and give expression to our tenderest sympathies. They are 
angels from the realm of nature employed to bear our mes- 
sage of affection to the dead. 

The fraternal spirit which prompts our presence here 
today is the harbinger of a time when the American people 
will gather annually, bringing the roses of the North and the 
magnolia blossoms of the South as a tribute to American val- 
or, to strew on the grave of every soldier who fell in battle 
or died in prison for a cause which he had been taught from 
pulpit and from family altar to believe was right. 

We do not need to approve the cause they defended but 
we honor the courage they displayed. I look upon our good 
president, Mr. McKinley of Ohio, Gen. Jno. B. Gordon of 
Georgia and Gen. Joe Wheeler of Alabama as the inspired 
prophets of reconciliation, and I will include the noble com- 
pany of ex-confederate soldiers of Kentucky who recently 
united in sending a floral shield containing the banner of stars 
and stripes born aloft by the supporting arms of the Blue and 
Gray as their contribution to our Memorial day. 

It may be that the spirits of those we desire to honor are 
far beyond the reach of these tokens of our remembrance but 



296 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

like the influence of prayer, the act will serve a benediction 
to ourselves and prompt us in the spirit of that heroic poem 
at Gettysburg *'to highly resolve to dedicate ourselves anew 
to the work" of healing the wounds and cementing the bonds 
that unite our common country. 

It should be the mission and first duty of every lover of 
his country to encourage social and business intercourse be- 
tween the sections, that we may become better acquainted 
with and appreciate the good qualities of each other. 

I have mingled much with the people of the South and 
have a high regard for them. They trace with just pride their 
descent from the Clans of Scotland, the Cavaliers of England 
and Huguenots of France. Coming down through one hun- 
dred and fifty years almost unchanged by immigration which 
they never courted, they have contributed their full share to 
the development of a distinctive type of American character 
which leads the Saxon race in courage, oratory and invention. 

Their mode of life made them courtly and hospitable. 
Their gallantry and pride made them elegant and brave. They 
had been educated to believe that their peculiar institution 
was right, that it had the protection of the constitution, and 
tlie sanction of the divine law. When the crisis came they 
flew to arms to maintain their view of the constitution even at 
the expense of the Union, while we of the North took up 
arms to preserve the Union even at the risk of the 
constitution. 

We frankly concede to the South all that they claim in 
the way of fortitude and courage. That their field marshals 
were unsurpassed in history; that their field and line officers 
were gallant gentlemen and that the rank and file of their ar- 
mies displayed courage and endurance which added lustre to 
the American character. 

We do not forget, however, that they were met on more 
than a hundred battle fields and finally vanquished' by armies, 
also American, greater and better equipped, it is true, but 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. ^97 

composed of officers and men whose courage were at least 
equal to their own. 

The result of the struggle has sealed the fate of slavery 
throughout the world, but the greatest blessing it brought 
to the South was the liberation of thd white race and the re- 
moval of the embargo that slavery had placed upon south- 
ern development. All classes frankly admit that they would 
not leave the Union now nor reinstate slavery if they could. 
They met their reverses without humiliation like a brave 
people, and when nothing was left of their former life they 
began anew without a murmur, proud of their pride and their 
poverty. They never ceased to be loyal to themselves and 
their traditions and cherish with a natural and pardonable 
pride the memory of their fallen heroes and loved ones, and 
although they feel, as many of us do, that the extension of 
the franchise to the ex-slaves was premature and the cause 
of nearly all thein later troubles, yet they have shown during 
the Spanish war that they are no less loyal to the Stars and 
Stripes then we are. More than this it would be ungenerous 
for us to ask. 

For more than one hundred years after the defeat of 
the last of the Stuarts on Culloden's bloody field the faithful 
Highlanders cherished the memory of their fallen prince. 
Their war-like songs even yet express loyal devotion to Royal 
Charlie. Yet those Highland Clans are among the most loyal 
to their queen today and her most trusted defenders, and it 
was the mounted grandsons of the tartaned followers of the 
Stuarts, who shattered Napoleon's old guard and sealed the 
fate of Waterloo. 

A broad and generous fraternity is the lesson for us all 
today. 

Our brothers of the South are working manfully to meet 
the new conditions which confront them. In the olden time 
"Cotton was King", and their ample source of wealth, their 
climate and soil combined to produce a cotton which gave 



298 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

them the markets of the world. They feared no competi- 
tion and sought no other industry. 

The vast resources of their heaven-favored land lay 
dormant. The magic voice of a hundred mountain streams 
had been calling for generations "There is a power in me. 
Come build your mills by my side and I will spin and weave 
your cotton at home." The unmelted iron in unnumbered 
hills had been calling, ''There is a power in me ; come with 
your skilled labor and build furnaces and rolling mills and 
I will make your towns and cities centers of industry and 
wealth." The testimony of the marble rock was added, say- 
ing, "There is a power and beauty in me. Come with your 
artists and chisels and I will help to bring elegance and re- 
finement to your homes." 

The weary slave of the cotton field as he leaned for rest 
on his hoe, had no ear attuned to hear these voices. The 
easy going master as he rode to the hunt or the races, might 
perhaps have heard but he cared not to listen, and the years 
went by in wasteful idleness till the struggle came and all 
was changed. After thirty years of bitter training, a new 
South has stepped into the arena of industry as our com- 
petitor. 

Capital and skill have gone to the aid of their new born 
energy. The voices of nature have been listened to. The 
music of four hundred thousand spindles is heard in the 
cotton mills of Georgia, and a new brand of goods has been 
introduced into the markets of Boston and Liverpool. The 
furnaces of Alabama are competing with those of Pennsyl- 
vania in the market of Pittsburg. The marble quarries of 
Tennessee rival those of Vermont in the markets of the 
North and have recently sent some of their products to the 
ports of Italy. 

Phoenix like, out of the ashes of their buried past they 
are rising to a grander future and they will yet thank an 
All-wise Providence that when they tried to tear down the 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 299 

emblem of our common Nationality, two million men were 
inspired to offer themselves for its protection. 

In the better light of a third of a century both sections 
are learning to look upon the civil war not as a heated partic- 
ipant in its events, but rather as a thoughtful student of its 
results. We can now see that God was preparing the nation 
through a sacrifice of blood to become his consistent agent 
in the difficult task of advancing civilization in the dark 
places of earth, and in extending Christian liberty among the 
islands of the sea. 

It was the training of the civil war that made the un- 
paralleled achievements of the past year possible. 

The sons of the Blue and the Gray fulfilled the promise 
of their fathers when they fell into line side by side to test 
the power of Spain. And they have divided the honors of 
a most brilliant campaign on land and sea between them. 

It is time that we bury all bitterness of the past when 
we reflect that in the scales with which anxious nations are 
weighing us today, the character and ability of Robt. E. Lee, 
Jos. E. Johnston and Stonewall Jackson will be estimated 
side by side with Grant, Sherman and Sheridan and the sol- 
dierly qualities of both armies will be equally considered in 
determining the nation's place among the powers of the 
earth. 

My fellow citizens of the Gray and the Blue, as we dis- 
tribute these flowers on the graves of more than two thou- 
sand of the nation's confederate dead, I feel that we should 
thank God that we and they were permitted to belong to that 
generation of soldiers who were selected to work out His 
plans, however mysterious, for the regeneration of the Re- 
public. 

In closing I quote the language of Gen. Gordon at the 
late Confederate reunion at Charleston, South Carolina, when 
he said : "I feel the power of your confidence to pledge in 
the name of every Confederate and son and daughter of 
Confederates, the South's eternal loyalty to every cause for 



300 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

the upbuilding of American manhood, the perpetuity of 
American freedom, the unity of the American people and by 
all these agencies we may accelerate the onward march of the 
American Republic in its benign progress." 

Men and women of the North, we should be encouraged 
to pay some regard to the graves of our comrades which 
the fortune of war has placed in our keeping, to hear such 
sentiments expressed by the foremost living Confederate 
and endorsed by that great assembly of his comrades, and to 
know that they would join us heartily in expressing the 
patriotic sentiment of our great American poet: 

"One flag, one land, one heart, one hand. 

One nation, evermore, 

Sail on, oh Ship of State, 
Sail on, oh Union strong and great. 

Humanity with all its fears, 

With all its hopes of future years 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate." 



INCIDENT IN WHICH CAPTAIN BROOKS, 
OF KNOXVILLE, TENN., 

Saved the Life of an Indiscreet Northern "Drummer" 

IN 1861. 

While Knoxville contained a number of strong Union 
men, the feeling generally was so much against the govern- 
ment that early in 1861 a traveling man from the North, 
while spending a night in the city, expressed himself so bit- 
terly against the South that a crowd proposed to hang him 
from the town bridge in defiance of the police, who were in 
sympathy with the movement and could not be found. The 
mayor, anxious to avoid scandal, had the man returned to jail 
for safe; keeping and sent for Captain W. B. Brooks, a well- 
known young man, who while in City College had been cap^ 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 3OI 

lain of, a military company of college boys, and asked him if 
he could get the man safely out of the city in the morning. 
The captain replied he thought he could if given his own 
way. This the mayor promised. The captain then sent for 
some local members of this old company, to report to him at 
six o'clock in the morning at the jail, under arms. 

The boys reported as directed and, while the crowd 
was gathering, he explained the situation to the boys, saying 
that he was acting under instructions from the mayor to 
protect an innocent man from an excited mob, who wanted 
to hang him. He then placed sixteen boys in line in front 
of the jail and ordered them to load their guns with full 
cartridges, and await orders. Then, turning to the crowd 
across the street, he said: "I am ordered by the mayor to 
protect a prisoner who has done no harm, and I will give you 
five minutes to go away quietly and make no disturbance, for 
I will order the 'boys to fire upon any who are found on the 
ground after that time. At the end of the time given they 
were all gone. They might perhaps have risked the caution 
of a platoon of older men, but they would not risk the boys. 
Captain Brooks displayed in this affair the ability of a true 
soldier. 

He afterwards entered the Confederate service and was 
shot through the lungs at the battle of Chickamagua. For 
months he laid at home suffering with supposed consump- 
tion until, in a paroxysm of coughing, he brought up a piece 
of his blouse, after which he got well. 

Ever since then he has been one of the prominent citizens 
and one time mayor of the city, and today is one of its lead- 
ing citizens, both in church and state. 



The following paper was prepared at the request of some 
citizens of Ottawa, Illinois, to be read at the celebration of 
the fiftieth anniversary of the famous Lincoln-Douglas de- 
bates, of 1858. As it corrects some erroneous notions as to 



302 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

his appearance and general make-up, it is worthy of some 
consideration on this the anniversary of his birthday. 

A NEAR VIEW OF LINCOLN. 

By Jonathan F. Linton. 

An old acquaintance of the President. 



Lincoln has been uniformly described as being uncouth, 
awkward and abnormal, while, in fact, he was an exception- 
ally good-looking man, being symmetrically developed phys- 
ically and morally. He had a strong and kindly face that 
could not but favorably impress all who saw him. He was as 
self-possessed and easy in his manners as any man I ever 
knew. He was without a trace of awkwardness. 

It is the fashion to mourn over the fact that Lincoln's 
only schooling was gained during a six months' term in a 
backwoods cabin school-house, and to regret that he could 
not have had the advantages of a university education. This 
is taking a very narrow view of the case. Pioneer life was 
not without its compensations. Abraham Lincoln was in 
reality a finely educated man. His education was of the kind 
that gave him the right point of view, and specially fitted him 
for the great tasks that de\'olved upon him in after years. 
Had he given eight years of his life to the primary schools, 
four more years to the high school, and six more 
to the university, he never could have been, even ap- 
proximately, the man that he was, The education he 
received during the first twenty years of his life made him 
the peer of any man of his years in the country. It fitted 
him to be a capable business man at twenty-one years of age, 
an influential politician when twenty-three and a most use- 
ful member of the State Legislature at twenty-five— having 
been elected to that body as a Whig by a large majority in 
a Democratic district. He served three terms in succession. 
He was the Whig candidate for speaker during the last two 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 3O3 

terms. He opposed all pro-slavery measures while in the 
Legislature. 

When thirty-one he was chosen to represent his party 
throughout the state on the stump in opposition to Douglas, 
who then was the acknowledged champion of the Democrats ; 
and then again two years later. He acquitted himself so 
well in these contests that the people sent him to Congress 
in 1846, when thirty-seven years of age, to represent a dis- 
trict that, normally, was largely Democratic. He was the only 
Whig representative from Illinois in Congress at that time. 
President Fillmore, in 1849, tendered him the Governorship 
of Oregon, then a territory, which he declined. During those 
years he was the acknowledged leader of the Whig party in 
Illinois and the party's choice for the United States Senate 
twice and Vice-President once. 

It is a fact that no man better endowed, through edu- 
cation or practical experience in governmental affairs, than 
Abraham Lincoln was ever elected President in this country. 
No President has ever given us abler state papers, and no 
other President has ever enriched our literature with so pre- 
cious a gem as the Gettysburg address. With no desire to 
lessen our estimate of the value of a collegiate education, we 
must admit that had Lincoln been a college-bred man he 
could never have filled the place he did in the life of our 
country, never could have been the master of pure English 
that he was, and never could have composed his Gettysburg 
address. Valuable as a collegiate education is. it cannot com- 
pensate entirely for a lack of the knowledge that comes from 
actual contact with the world. 

The people of Illinois admired Lincoln for his ability, 
had an abiding faith in his honesty, and, in addition, simply 
loved him. Lincoln was not what could be called a conven- 
tional man in either his habit of thought or method of life. 
He had respect for popular opinion, but was not ruled by it. 
He was honest with himself and with the public. When he 
addressed an audience he did not seek to say that which he 



304 RECOLLECTIONS OF A CAVALRYMAN. 

thought they would like best to hear. He simply aimed to 
give them a fair understanding of what were his honest con- 
victions upon the subject being considered. He was a close 
reasoner and had the happy faculty of making his statements 
so clear that anyone could understand them. In addressing 
an audience he never indulged in oratorical tricks of any 
kind. He simply stood up and talked straight at the people, 
articulating €very word so distinctly that all could hear and 
understand. 

Douglas was an orator with a national reputation and 
knew that his friends were on the lookout for some brilliant 
oratorical flights whenever he addressed them, and would be 
disappointed if he failed to meet their expectations. In the 
historical debates of 1858 Douglas seemed to cultivate ap- 
plause, while Lincoln gave his attention to the making of 
convincing arguments. While Douglas' hearers were taking 
in his oratory they were losing the thread of his argument. 
Lincoln's hearers were not incommoded in that way. 

All who saw Lincoln during the last two or three years 
of his life were impressed by the extreme melancholy cast 
of his countenance. A man of his wide sympathies could 
not but be weighed down by the untold suffering that the war 
entailed. He knew that the miseries of the war fell more re- 
lentlessly upon innocent children, women and the aged than 
they did upon the active soldier. He knew of the mistakes 
of some of our generals and of the incompetency of others. 
He knew of dishonesty and grafting in many departments. 
The Union forces met with many discouragements, a knowl- 
edge of which to a great extent was necessarily kept from the 
general public, while the details all came direct to him. 
While his courage was unfaltering, he could not but feel for 
the sorrows of the helpless sufferers. 

I was through the South soon after the close of the war, 
and at different times since, and talked freely with the 
people about the war and its results. Not once did I hear 
a harsh judgment of Lincoln from any one of them. I really 



RECENT CORRESPONDENCE. 305 

believe that Lincoln's death was as sincerely mourned by the 
greater part of the white population of the South as it was 
by the people of the North. Wherever I went it was the 
uniform expression that in Lincoln's death the people of the 
South lost their best friend. Lincoln would have had the 
courage and the ability to prevent the maladministrations 
that characterized the reconstruction period. 

THE END, 



'20 



PERSONAL OPINIONS OF PROMINENT 

MEN. 



FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH. 
Washington Gladden, Pastor Emeritus, 

631 EAST TOWN STREET. 

Columbus, O., Aug. 14, 1914. 
I have read much of the manuscript copy of General 
Hamilton's story of the war, and have found it very interest- 
ing The simplicity and directness of the narrative, its vivid 
reproduction of the scenes and events which it describes, the 
absence of egotism, all make it readable and convmcing. 1 
have been especially touched with the stories of General Ham- 
ilton's dealings with the Southern people. If the spirit which 
finds expression in them had prevailed in the years following 
the war, the problems of reconstruction would have been 

simple. ,j- , 1 r 

The noble introduction to the volume, a soldier s plea tor 

peace, is not the least valuable part of it. 

I hope the book will find a place in all public libraries. 
(Signed) Washington Gladden. 



THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, 
W. O. Thompson, President. 

Columbus, O., Aug. 14, 1914. 
General W. D. Hamilton, 
87 E. 4th Ave., 

Columbus, Ohio. 

Mv Dear General Hamilton: 

I am very much pleased with the "Outline of Contents" 
for your book, and as a former Brownsville boy acquainted 

(307) 



308 PERSONAL OPINIONS. 

with many, if not all of the Scotch Colony, am pleased that 
this bit of local history has been so well written up. 

Your experiences in the South during the war and after 
the war are written up in the same easy style and make a 
distinct contribution to the literature of the Civil War. The 
book will commend itself to students of the future and should 
find a place in public libraries and in colleges and university 
libraries. 

Very truly, 

(Signed) W. O. Thompson. 



THE OHIO STATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HIS- 
TORICAL SOCIETY, 
Museum and Library Building, 
corner high street and fifteenth avenue. 

Columbus,, Ohio, Sept. 17, 1914. 

I have had the privilege of reading the manuscript of 
some of the chapters of the "History of the 9th Ohio Volun- 
teer Cavalry," during the civil war, by General William D. 
Hamilton. General Hamilton has made a distinct contribu- 
tion to the war literature. He writes a very natural, simple, 
straight- forward story, which is both informing and enter- 
taining. 

While the main theme of the book is the history and 
deeds of the regiment under his command, that history is 
delightfully embellished by personal anecdotes and experiences. 
The work, however, will not only be read with interest by 
the friends and personal acquaintances of the General, but its 
historical value will recommend it to the reader in general. 

E. O. Randall. 



ADDENDA. 3O9 

January 30, 1915. 

I have just received a letter from comrade Wm. R. 
Kinnear, the well-known inventor and manufacturer of 
Brooklyn, N. Y., formerly of Columbus, Ohio, where as a 
boy of 17 years he volunteered in Company "E," Ninth O. 
V. C, in which he served with all the enthusiasm and courage 
of youth until the close of the war. He says : "As a cor- 
poral I led our advance April 15th across a swollen stream, 
through mud and rain, followed by Sergeant Vandeveer and 
a stronger force to engage the enemy's skirmishes in what 
proved to be the last engagement of the war." At my request 
he sent me a photo of himself with a short outline of his 
activities since the war. "This has been chiefly along the line 
of metals and manufacture of machinery for its use. I made 
the first stamped steel ceiling in existence, and the Kinnear- 
Gager Company of Columbus is still producing it. I invented 
a steel rolling door, which is in general use in our cities, and 
the Kinnear Manufacturing Company of Columbus is ship- 
ping annually a million dollars worth abroad. I have invented 
machines for the use of rolling mills which will save millions 
in the cost of labor. I have received in all over 200 patents 
along the lines on which I have been working." 

Like all truly useful men he has a warm heart, and 
closes his letter with an affectionate tribute to his old com- 
mander, which I deeply appreciate. 

W. D. H. 



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